http://bible.com/116/mat.6.21.nlt
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Observation
Our minds and our emotions can work to fool us about the state of our heart.
Our minds can tell us, I’m attending church each week and hearing the Word of God, I’m in fellowship weekly in a Bible Study group, I’m reading the scriptures daily in my morning devotionals, and I’m thinking about the lessons being taught and appreciating them. But if we are not applying these lessons in our lives, if we do not see Christ alive in our lives, surrendering to Him and serving others – are we just practicing Gnosticism and doing mental gymnastics to avoid truly accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord and authority over our lives?
And having an emotional response to the gospel can have a similar misleading impression of the true state of our hearts. If we continue in the same sin and open rebellion over and over, only finding ourselves convicted and emotional when confessing our sins to the Lord, seeking forgiveness but not seeking His will in our lives – are we simply remorseful but not repentant and obedient to God?
Call to Action
It is a heart issue. It is a love issue. It is about what we treasure. It is about what we believe. It is about our faith that God will provide.
What is your treasure? What is the one thing or the one person that you love most?
Would you lay it down and sacrifice it on the altar in the name of God? Are you ready for that level of surrender to God?
Why is that one thing that you just claimed as what you love most not the Lord?
Do you know the greatest commandment?
Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”
Are you holding onto an idol that you have placed before God?
You see, the Lord is our treasure. He is our portion, children of God. And He is sufficient. He should be our heart’s desire. In fact, He commands us that we must.
So are we obedient in this one “simple” commandment? I say simple because it is easy to understand what He is asking for. He is asking for a fully surrendered life. I call it simple and not small because this is not something easy to do under our own power. But through Christ all things are possible.
Today, let’s be honest with ourselves about what we treasure most in our lives. I’ve seen the reaction and heard the testimony of those who have lost their “treasure” when it is something or someone here on earth – and it is painful and results many times in their lashing out at God.
Yes, I look at the story of Job, who lost everything, his wealth, his family, his health – and whose response is to fall down on his knees and praise the Lord. And some might say that is radical faith, but we are not called to be like Job. No, we are called to take up our cross and follow Christ.
We are called to lay down our lives and in doing so, find a new life in Christ. We are called not just to accept that it can be taken away, but to offer it all up to Him, too surrender everything, and to share in His victory.
http://bible.com/116/rev.12.11.nlt
And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
So if I ask again, what do you treasure most – what is your answer?
Are you satisfied with your answer?
Are you confident in your answer?
Is it the answer of just your mind or emotions – or is it truly the desire of your heart, reflected in your actions?
Help us today, Lord, to find our hearts fully surrendered to you, Lord. Help us cast aside the worthless and perishable and to cling to you alone as our portion.
Remind us to –
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Harold J. Ballinger 