Treasure
Treasure
Values That Last
Certs, Breath Savers, chewing gum are all big sellers. Americans are conscious about "bad breath," and they spend millions of dollars to hide or change it. The problem is that the remedies do not last long.
There is a bizarre new breath mint on the market now which lasts for two hours. It is a time released pill that sits between your upper gum and cheek and slowly puts out a minty taste for hours. You do not have to chew it, or even suck on it.
The price for a bottle of 200 mints is $30. It seems high, but the selling point is that it is really more economical.
Everybody is interested in things that last. Our cars wear out, so do clothes, shoes, and everything about us. The faces on Mount Rushmore have to be continually repaired. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19 that all earthly treasures are beset by risks and finally end in total loss.
The real treasure of wealth is to be found in heaven. We can store truth, love, and faith. Our emphasis must always be on the values that last.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my word;" says Jesus, "shall not pass away" (Mark 13:31).
Life Was Good, Until . . .
Several years ago a farmer increased his farm holding from 300 acres to 9,000 acres. Everyone was proud of him and glad to see him prosper. He had a lovely family-two boys and a girl, and one of the sweetest wives in the world. He was a leader in the church and the family was very faithful. Needless to say, he became very wealthy. Life was good. As the responsibilities of the farm increased, his involvement with the church decreased. Over time the entire family became so involved with the farm and the wealth that they all became unfaithful and placed the church on low priority in their lives. The father died and the children fought over the land, lost it, and spent all the inheritance. Today, they have very little to do with each other and have gone through several difficult personal problems. Their mother died in poverty and loneliness.
What good does it to do gain the whole world and yet lose your soul and those of your loved ones? What can the world give in place of the soul? The Christian's Riches
In CHRIST we have-
A LOVE that can never be fathomed;
A LIFE that can never die;
A RIGHTEOUSNESS that can never be tarnished;
A PEACE that can never be understood;
A REST that can never be disturbed;
A JOY that can never be diminished;
A HOPE that can never be disappointed;
A GLORY that can never be clouded;
A HAPPINESS that can never be interrupted;
A LIGHT that can never be darkened;
A STRENGTH that can never be enfeebled;
A BEAUTY that can never be marred;
A PURITY that can never be defiled;
A WISDOM that can never be baffled;
RESOURCES that can never be exhausted.
Worthless Treasures
Hidden treasures today are rare. In the ancient biblical lands, however, they were common. Palestine, which was a land bridge between Egypt and the great empires, was repeatedly invaded, ravaged, and captured. Multitudes buried gold. There were no banks. The government, nobility, clergy, and Arab invaders all robbed the common people often and without warning. Because of this, the people quickly buried treasure in the ground, in walls, in tree trunks, or wherever they could. Earthquakes could cover up entire cities and bury gold with them. All kinds of people quickly buried what they had in the face of invasion or political change. They left, they died, they were captured, and no one knew where the treasure was hidden.
W.M. Thompson was a missionary in Syria and Palestine for 30 years. He told of workmen digging up a garden in Sidon. They found several copper pots of gold. They did exactly like the man in the parable-concealed their find with care. But then, wild with joy, they could not keep their mouths shut. The governor of the city caught them, and recovered two of the pots, and it was found that they contained 8,000 pure gold coins of Alexander and his father Philip. Thompson saw hundreds of persons all over the country spending their last pennies looking for such treasure.
He Thought Nothing of Money
He paid $70,000 for a house to live in for a few years upon this earth.
He thought nothing of money.
He paid $10,500 for a car.
He thought nothing of money.
He paid $800 for a television set.
He thought nothing of money.
He paid $300 for fishing gear.
He thought nothing of money.
He paid $400 for a deer hunt.
He thought nothing of money.
He paid $20 one evening watching the Dallas Cowboys play.
He thought nothing of money.
He paid $10 per week for tobacco.
He thought nothing of money.
He gave $5 whenever he went to church.
He thought nothing of money!
Money in the Bank
A man gave several thousand dollars to help build a church. Then came the 1929 Stock Market crash. He lost everything. Someone said, "If you had that money you gave to start the church, you would have had enough to set yourself up in business again." He replied, "I would have lost that money, too, in the crash. As it is, it is the only money I saved. It is now in the bank of heaven, yielding interest which will accumulate until eternity." Hundreds have come to Christ through the church he helped build.
Gratitude as an Asset
Men reckon up their goods-so much in bonds, so much in stocks, so much in notes, so much in personal property, so much in real estate. In taking account of their possessions, do men ever take into consideration the asset of a thankful heart? Probably not. And yet there is no greater wealth in itself, and no greater producing agent of wealth than the faculty of gratitude.
Contentment is a personal feast. The richest man in the world can use no more than enough for his desires. If you have the same, you are as rich as he. A Cablegram From Heaven
A merchant was asked to contribute to a certain piece of church work. He gladly wrote a $250 check and gave it to the solicitor. At that moment, a cablegram was brought in. The merchant read it and looked troubled. "This cablegram," he said, "tells me that one of my ships has been wrecked and the cargo lost. That makes a difference in my business. I will have to write you another check."
The solicitor thought he understood and handed back the check for $250, and the merchant wrote out another and gave it to him. When the solicitor read it, he was utterly amazed; it was for $1,000. "Have you not made a mistake?" he asked. "No," said the merchant, "I have not made a mistake." Then he added, "To me, that cablegram was a message from my Father in Heaven. It reads, 'Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth ...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal'(Matthew 6:19-20)." The Value of Redemption
In the world in which we live we always think of the price of things.
We look at a car, and we admire its features, but the price stands in the way of having it as our own.
We look at a new home, and we would love to live in it, but again, it is beyond our reach if the price is too high. We go into a jewelry store and see the exhibited diamonds and we would like an expensive one to show our love to a special person, but again, the price stands in the way.
The amazing thing about God is that He places the greatest fulfillment of our need at no price at all. However, we are likely to not appreciate the greatness of the gift, just because it is free. Not Possible in our Own Strength
A ship was plowing through a stormy sea when part of the mast broke off. The captain ordered a lad to climb up and repair the damage. The boy started up, but he slid back down and ran into his cabin for a moment. He then came back, climbed back to the top of the ship and made the necessary repairs. When he was on the deck again, the captain said to him, "Why did you run down into your cabin for a minute before you climbed aloft?" "Why, sir," he said, "I went down to offer a word of prayer and to place this New Testament in my pocket. My mother told me before I left home that if I would pray and carry the Word of God with me, I would be well protected from any storm."
"For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).
Going Deeper
A small company in the early days of gold mining in South Africa sank shaft after shaft in different locations, finding only a small amount of gold in each shaft. Ultimately, the prospectors discovered that all they needed to have done was to go deeper in the first shaft for, as they did so, they found gold in abundance.
Roy Hession writes that he has found this to be true in the spiritual life also.
"I testify that although I have tried all sorts of different shafts, hoping for greater results in my life, Christ has now become the end of all my searching. Revival for me has meant coming back to the place where I first began, and I intend to stay there. Tell me not of any other way. I need to go deeper at His cross-much deeper."
Contentment
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that" (1 Timothy 6:6-8).
Our generation wants it all. Many people who are 30 and under have always had it all. The lack of material things during the Great Depression has affected the attitudes of many older people. So many, both young and old, are concerned with driving the right car, wearing clothes with the right label and vacationing at the "in" places. Yet, having all these only leads to a desire for more.
How we accumulate! The man who has everything needs a place to put it. Our closets are running over. We buy houses with two car garages and then leave our cars outside. The garage is full of things. Mini-warehouses and storage facilities are a growth industry. Is this accumulation perhaps one reason vans and pickup trucks are so popular? We need bigger vehicles to carry what we have.
But has a richer life produced a better life? The most popular prescription drugs relieve anxiety and hypertension. The most popular over-the-counter drugs are aspirin and related pain killers. Also, if abundance brings happiness, we would assume that the people who have the most possessions have the greatest happiness. Yet even the most casual observer can see this is not true.
In his accumulation of things, is not man searching for contentment? The bottom line, according to Paul is not how much you have. The bottom line on personal profit and loss is finding godliness with contentment.
What do we need to be content? Paul's statement is almost heretical to our materialistic ears. All that is necessary is food and clothing. These should be the limit of our earthly desires. Matthew Henry well said, "The necessities of life are the bounds of a true Christian's desires. Truly, the secret of contentment is not having much but wanting little. This is not to say we cannot have more than food and clothing. It means that having more than these presents a temptation (1 Timothy 6:9). May we, as God's children, refuse to let the world squeeze us into its mold, and refuse to imitate it as it seeks everything to live with and nothing to live for.
Hold My Mule!
The old man could not carry a tune in a syrup bucket, but he loved to sing, even if it was off-key! Besides, he was bad about "amening" the preacher. Services had degenerated into an "undignified" assembly because of the old man. He simply got too involved in the "goings on" and forgot himself.
Four of the more well-to-do members decided that this old fellow was just too crude for the congregation. They appointed themselves as the ones to go and talk to the old man.
When they arrived at the old fellow's house, he was in the field plowing with his old mule. Though it was beneath their dignity, they finally walked out through the dusty ground which soiled their fine clothes to talk to the old timer. "Brother Jones," they began, "we want to talk to you about your singing. Not meaning any offense, but you just cannot sing. We wish you would try not to sing so loud because frankly, your singing ruins our services!"
"I am sorry," the old fellow replied, "but it is just that when I look at these old clothes that I wear and then I think of them robes that God has for me, I just cannot help singing. And when I see that old shack over yonder that I live in and realize that it is liable to fall any time, and then I think about the beautiful palace that God has for me, I just have to sing praises to my Lord. You fellers see this old hat I got on? Well, when I see that crown in my mind that God has for me, I just have to yell that wonderful name of Jesus at the top of my lungs!"
"As a matter of fact," he said, "would one of you fellers mind holding my mule? I feel like singing now."
They left him right there, singing away in the field! And as these four men left the old fellow out there singing they viewed him in a different light. One said to the rest, "You know, his singing is not really all that bad." Another said, "I never really realized how sweet his voice really is." The third said, "I just hope that God will allow me to sing in the same group that he sings in."
Now there are several lessons in this story. Possibly the reason these men had never really seen things in their true light before was that the world was just too much with them. I wonder if the reason that we have difficulty sometimes appreciating the things that God has reserved for us in heaven is that the world is just too much with us, too. (Amen!)