Treasure

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

Last month as I was preparing to travel to a country with a winter climate, I pulled out the best winter shoes I have. I could tell that something was wrong as soon as I took them from the back of the closet. Thankfully, they were only covered in mildew but still in one piece. I was able to clean them up and wear them for my trip. The climate here is brutal when we leave clothing and other items stored away and unused for any length of time. In fact, we run the air conditioning in our school library and band rooms all the time to protect the books and instruments.

This makes it easy for us to understand the first part of the statement Jesus made in Matthew 6. We understand that things we store up here on earth will not last for eternity. He tells us to store up treasures in heaven instead. As I was thinking about exactly what treasures he means, I went back to the previous chapter. In a famous passage called the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), Jesus tells us what kind of people are blessed. “Blessed are the poor in spirit…the meek…the merciful…the pure in heart…the peacemakers.”

We store up these treasures in heaven by showing love and kindness to others. Rather than invest in things, we invest in people and our own character. We intentionally choose to be meek rather than assert that our way is best. We show mercy when others treat us poorly. We seek to make peace rather than incite people against one another. All of these require us to put the needs of others ahead of our own.

As we try to teach these lessons to our students, telling them is not enough. Showing them is not really enough, either. We need to help the students to experience living in this way. Giving up their mid-semester break to serve on an IMPSCT team is a great way to put this into practice. If you will be together with your kids over the upcoming break, I encourage you to find a way to serve others together. There is no shortage of people in need in our community, but it does take effort to set aside time and resources to meet those needs. The promise of Jesus is that we will be blessed when we do this.