Verse of the Day - Matthew 6:19-21

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
~ Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

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I got an email today from my mom to warn me about debit card skimming fraud she heard on her evening news. I checked it out on Snopes.com (nothing), but searched the internet, and MSNBC has posted some recent, rather disturbing news about debit card skimming at the gas pumps. (http://pindebit.blogspot.com/2008/10/pumping-gas-just-got-more-riskier-msnbc.html) In these tough, economic times, we need to be savvy about new ways that thieves are attempting to steal our "treasure". Yet from Jesus' words in Matthew 6, thievery is obviously nothing new. Technology might not've been there, but evil intent has been around since the fall of man. People have been getting ripped off for a very long time.

Obviously, we need to eat, have a roof over our heads, and have some clothes on -- basic stuff. But Jesus asks us to examine where our heart is in relation to money and plain ol' "stuff". Is our heart grappling for more money, more stuff? Is that what consumes our mental and physical energies? Are we stuck in the material world, fighting and storing all we can get? And if so, what does that really afford us?

It's amazing how stressful it is to have a lot of money and stuff. People hover around the stock market news and make frantic calls to their broker. They install bigger and better home alarm systems to keep from getting their bigger and better treasures stolen. Cheapo cars don't command the need for a lo-jack, but they probably come standard on the high-end vehicles. We just gotta protect our treasures...

I'll never forget reading accounts of suicide after the Great Crash of 1929. Although overblown and sensationalized at the time, the point is when big money is lost and that is where your heart is, you are sunk! When your hope is lying at the bottom of a stock market crash or in a thief's sly tactics and not in the things of God, you put yourself at great heart risk. These things do not make a person, and they should not break a person. But they do . . . all the time.

Yes, we need to be wise stewards in how we handle what God has given us. We shouldn't be reckless in using our ATM/debit cards, we should lock our doors at night, we should be shrewd in dealing with folks who have opportunities that seem too good to pass up. But Jesus says that we should be storing up treasure in heaven, where outside earthly influences have no control or sway. How much mental and physical energy are we putting into the things of God's kingdom? Is our heart in these things, and if so, to what extent?

Are people's spiritual condition important to you? Do you desire people to see and know how wonderful God is, and want them to know how much He loves them? Are faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13) high on your priority list? (The Word says these things will remain.) Are you generous in helping others, even in small ways, or are you hoarding your time and money for yourself?

Money and stuff serve a purpose in this world, but they are so easily lost or destroyed. You are wise to understand this, and to determine in your heart that putting your energies into God's ways and God's kingdom -- things that really last -- is your safest investment, by far.

Love,
Joelene