May 19, 2014

Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

If you have an attic, basement or garage you probably have stuff stored up. I realize how much of this stuff I have when I am moving it out of the way as I am trying to find something else that I’ve stored away. I’ve got stuff from when I was younger, stuff from when my wife was younger, stuff from when my kids were younger, stuff of my kids that they left when they moved out, clothes I haven’t worn in years and that my family hopes I won’t start wearing again. Someday we will move from this place and we will have to figure out what to do with all this stuff. We have a thrift store at our church and we regularly get boxes of stuff from people who are either cleaning out their own homes to downsize or are cleaning out their parents homes after their parents have died or moved into a retirement community. My guess is that many of these items were chosen with consideration, paid for with hard earned money, cleaned and cared for regularly, and maybe displayed prominently. Now they will be sold to strangers for pennies on the dollar. The lesson here is self-evident even for the least religious minded people: you can give your life away to things that ultimately have little value. Some folks conclude that all of life fits this category of little value. Jesus proclaimed that life with God, given as a gift and redeemed by grace, has infinite value both now and forever. What treasures are you storing up this week?