Treasure Hunting

 

“Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21

 Today we begin our study of Esther looking at 1:1-8. This story reminded me of when Hezekiah showed off his wealth to the envoys from Babylon in 2 Kings 20. Isaiah told him that all of his wealth and some of his descendants would be carried off to Babylon, whom he had shown off to. Now the king of (then) Babylon was showing off all of his treasures, presumably including the treasures taken from Israel.

 Have you ever been to a party where the host showed you around the house? I was at one once, a reception after a funeral actually, where the owner of the house was also its architect. He showed us around the impressive structure that overlooked the water from the floor to ceiling windows, even in the ensuite bathroom! The closet/dressing room was the size of my bedroom, or bigger, and in a genius move, they had located the laundry machines in it. I’ve got to say, I was really impressed! But that’s not what we were there for. We were there to remember his father.

 Where is your treasure? It’s a question asked of me from pulpits, and from God’s voice to my heart, many times over my life. If you’re asking where my money is stored, my husband keeps a very careful accounting and presents it to the IRS every year as required. But that’s not my treasure, what I really care about. You see, all my money is just 1s and 0s in a bank’s computer. I am completely aware that any number of things could make it all disappear in the blink of an eye. That is not what I place my trust in, what I work to improve. My husband might say that I work to decrease it instead 😂. So what do I treasure? Where do I place my trust?

 I can most assuredly say that my treasure is in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. You see, I know that every good gift is from my Father in heaven. All that we have, He has provided. And if something should cause what we have to disappear, I have no doubt that He will still be able to provide for us. Where else could I place my trust?

·       Money – as I already mentioned, that could disappear in the blink of an EMP or a tank in the stock market, like we saw recently.

·       My husband – as much as I truly adore the man that God has graced my life with, I know that he is human and fallible. He is also mortal and not prone to being careful. I started what-if-ing what I would do should he suddenly pass decades ago!

·       My doctors – I am blessed in having excellent health insurance and living near a center of learning and medical knowledge. I have an excellent team that I really appreciate. But do I trust them? I think I could more accurately say I trust God to work through them. I pray over and weigh everything they tell me or instruct me to do. If something should affect my ability to work with them, say sweeping DEI changes in the program, I trust that God would still have my back and put me where I need to be.

·       My health - 😁😆😅🤣😂, yeah, that’s not going to be a temptation! But I could see how others who eat right and exercise could lean towards trusting in the body they’ve curated.

 Moral of the story is this life offers us lots of places to put our trust other than God. I wonder why? Oh yeah, we have an enemy that wants to keep us ineffective. Satan would rather throw riches at us than have us trust God for a meal. Why? Because where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. If we spend our days pouring over our bank accounts and stressing about our bills, how much energy do we have left to draw close to God and share Him with others? If I’m focused on pleasing my husband and trying to keep him safe, I’d stifle his wildness and boldness and probably end up ruining our relationship. If I took what my doctors said at face value and never questioned anything, if I looked to them for all the answers and trusted them to keep me healthy, I’d be in sorry shape! If I trusted in my health, oh wait, I already laughed that one off!

Here's the Thing: “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”* Anything else I put my trust in will let me down. Do I trust this chair to hold me up? Of course, but sometimes chairs break. Do I trust my husband to care for me? Definitely! But he will not always be there or always be able to fix things. Who can I trust completely, absolutely, at all times? Jesus. He will never let me down. He will never fail. He will never leave me or forsake me. Jesus FTW! Yeah, I went there…

*Lyrics from the Hymn “The Solid Rock” by Edward Mote