Seeking After Treasure
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:21. (CSB)
By: Barbara Lee
I can’t believe I fell for it! I’m just like Eve! I think it all started innocently. Maybe like me, you’ve scrolled through social media posts, looking to see how people you used to know are doing or what they are up to these days. That was me. One day I started looking at posts by people from my past. I really wanted to see who was still following Jesus, who was still seeking Him and loving Him. And I thought maybe a glimpse of their social media pages would reveal the truth about what they treasured.
But then my scrolling went to me gazing more intently at ---
- The little blue gift boxes she received from her husband
- The exciting vacations she went on
- The gorgeously decorated home she so neatly kept
Can you see where my thinking was headed? Maybe if my life had been different, maybe that could have been me. I began to feel restless, discontent, and unsatisfied. Scrolling social media, I had actually discovered what I was treasuring. I found myself caught up in the lies of the enemy that “the grass is greener on the other side.” I was entangled in the enemy’s web that said…
- My life isn’t enough
- What I have isn’t enough
- That I’ve missed out on something
Sweet friend, have you been there? When you look at your own life, do you feel like you’ve missed out on something?
I began to see that I was just like Eve. When the serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden, he pointed out the ONE tree – the ONE thing – God had said, “…you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…” (Genesis 2:17). The reason: “…for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” The moment the serpent spoke to Eve, she failed to look beyond the forbidden tree. She failed to recognize that she was living in an abundance of God’s blessings – lavish gardens filled with everything she could ever eat (vegetarian, of course). And two perfectly in-tuned relationships: with her husband and with God. But when she let her gaze slip away from God’s perfect provision, she started yearning for something else, something other than what God had provided. She looked away from God’s best for her.
As I was pondering my life one day, the Lord started revealing to me the real treasures in my life–
- The sweet man that I married who keeps this “all-to-serious” girl laughing
- The many states and countries we’ve lived in and been able to see and explore the beauty
of God’s creation
- The three great children I was able to teach and grow with
- The added blessings of my daughter’s husband and grandchildren
- The Lee “family” lingo and countless memories of our goofy family
Oh, how quickly I had forgotten one of my life verses: “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2 CSB 2017)! When I set my mind on things above, I look at Christ and what He has done for me. And my heart is filled with gratitude for both my eternal riches and the life God has given me.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21. CSB 2017). I had allowed my gaze to slip away from the treasures that God had given me, which caused me to be restless and ungrateful. Have you been there?
Later in the same chapter in Matthew, Jesus tells us what to seek after. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be provided for you” (Matthew 6:33). God knows just what we need. He calls us to love Him first. Love Him the most. Love Him with everything that we are (see Mark 12:30). But we can’t do that when we are longing for and reaching for something that He never intended for us to have.
The longings of our hearts can lead us to true treasure or lead us down a path that God never intended us to take. When dissatisfaction or discontentment hits us, where are we to look? It’s so easy to listen to the world and believe that what it has to offer is good because it looks desirable. But, friend, God has a much better way. Real treasure can be found along the road of gratitude.
I realized that I rarely take the time to thank God for what He has given me. And that needs to change.
Oh, sweet sister, God has blessed you and me so richly! As a child of the King, all the treasures of the Kingdom are ours! And as we journey this road toward our eternal home, He gives us so many treasures in this earthly life. Seeking after God can take us from discontentment to pure joy. As we spend time thanking Him for our many blessings, He fills our hearts – all our empty spaces – with contentment and satisfaction. He gives us what we need, with our greatest treasure being a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. And that is something truly to be grateful for!
Friend, let’s spend time every day thanking God for all the good treasures He has blessed us with! And why not start right now?!
