heart treasure

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

We talk about our treasures. Our eyes light up, our words flow faster, our diction is crisper, our enthusiasm flows when our treasure is our topic. Listen to what a person talks about the most. Or more graphically on display, look at what predominates their social media feed. You will find their treasure as surely as if they handed you a map with an “X” marking the spot.

We think about our treasures. We can’t help it. What we treasure will consume our free thoughts. Treasures dominate our minds, our hopes, our dreams, our plans, and our waking AND sleeping moments. What I catch myself daydreaming about most in an alone moment probably points me to what my heart may currently be treasuring.

We feel for our treasures. When I cry over a loss, I may find an uncovered heart treasure in the tears. When I have anxiety over the future, my worry fixates on what my heart treasures. What angers me? That too is something that points to a perceived devaluing of my treasure. What appalls me? I perceive others not treasuring what I treasure. My feelings often wrap themselves around what my heart treasures, adorning treasures with deep personal emotion.

We choose our treasures. What have I chosen? What decisions will I make today or have I made around what my heart values? How do I choose to live my life? Look at how a person lives, whether miserly or extravagantly, sensually or practically, spiritually or materially, and you will see a museum built to the treasures of their heart. These museums are erected by their choices around the treasures they value the most. We choose to live around what our hearts treasure. 

The words of Jesus then invite us to deeper introspection. Will I let His insights into seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness inform my inventory of my treasures? Will I let Him reorder what I treasure… indeed, will I let Jesus be ALL that I treasure?