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What Do You Value?
What do you value? I have to ask myself this question often to keep focused on things of value. It is easy to start loving material things more than our spiritual wealth.
However, I am thankful to God that I live in a country where most of my physical needs are easy to acquire. But unfortunately, there are many countries where even daily bread is hard to purchase or to find money to buy.
Even while living on the skidrows of Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles, I could always find plenty of food and shelter. I should point out that I was there during the summer. Winter is much more challenging.
I am not saying that you and I do not need to help others in need. But, as followers of Jesus, we must always be aware of other people’s needs and help when we can.
Jesus tells us, 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16 NKJV As Jesus’ disciples, we must be busy doing good works.
Some people in this country cannot acquire what they need—families who need our help. There are especially a large number of children that go to bed hungry.
YOU alone choose what is valuable to you. No one decides for you.
Eternity Living Starts Now
What do you value? What do you want out of your life on earth?
Do you live life as eternal, or only look to the short span of years God grants you here on earth? How you view life will define what you do with the years you have.
You can and should look at life as an eternal experience. Eternity living can start for you today.
Most of us start our lives trying to obtain some dreamed-of lifestyle. Your choice may be to work, build wealth and live the American dream. That was the way I started.
I was raised in the church, taught Sunday School as a teen, and even started preaching in my Senior year of High School. People were impressed with my Christian walk, but my life focus was on gaining wealth and things.
I was still defining success by what I had. So my prayer is that you have climbed past that worldly wall.
You can believe it but still, be wrong.
My faith in Jesus as the Son of God was genuine. I believed God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 NKJV There were no doubts that Jesus preached, died for my sins, and was raised on the third day.
However, like many Christians, I was still fully committed to the world and what I could accomplish for myself. I knew that Jesus died so that we would be able to be with Him in Heaven. I had a pie-in-the-sky attitude that kept me from serving Him as I should.
To follow Jesus, you have to make a decision. That decision starts with believing that He is the Son of God and that He died for your sins on the cross and rose on the third day.
Being a disciple of Jesus only starts there. A disciple follows the example of Jesus in all things.
Eternity starts now
You must make changes in what you consider valuable to experience eternity here and now. In life, there are only two meaningful choices and what you decide transforms your whole life.
When you take your focus off of ‘things’ your whole life changes. Many of the things you thought were very important to you lose all value. You can find joy and peace in having almost nothing that the world considers necessary.
Remember it is you who assigns value to things in life. You are entirely free to live life as simple as you want and to place value on those things that are really important.
You can lay up treasures in Heaven or on earth. It is impossible to do both.
Eternity living starts with a decision to build your treasure in Heaven.
As a disciple of Jesus, this is the only decision you can make. Putting wealth building ahead of serving God leads only to spiritual failure. Choose wisely what course you will follow!
Jesus is our example
Jesus set the stage from the beginning. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and yet He chose a manger in Bethlehem in which to be born. Jesus chose to learn the carpenter trade instead of how to lead armies and rule nations.
He chose to go to the poor and broken instead of the rich and powerful. Jesus did not acquire earthly wealth even though He had the same physical needs we have. He gave up things and called upon His disciples to do the same.
As followers of Jesus, we need to pay attention to the way He chose to live. He did not seek worldly goods. He did not even have a home.
When approached by a rich young man who said he wanted to follow Him, we have the following scripture. 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20 NKJV
He had a more important task that related to the Kingdom of God. That was what was important and what He gave Himself to.
Jesus says more
Later in Luke, we find Him telling those who had gathered to hear Him the following. Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9:23 NKJV
He did not seek out the highly educated to be His key leaders and He did not go to the teachers of the Law. Those He chose were not at all what today’s leaders look for. None of them would be considered to fill today’s church pulpits.
He defined a little of His world in the following scripture, 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26 NKJV
Treasure that counts
Our treasure needs to be in God’s Kingdom. It only gets there when we decide that we are to stop doing evil and start serving a living God in all we do and say.
You must decide what is valuable to you, eternity or possessions. If possessions are more important to you than serving God your home will not be with Him.
Jesus is aware of our desires and where our hearts are. It is these desires that He addresses in the following verses. 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV
Jesus is clear about where our hearts should be and He also understands that often our hearts are not where they should be. Sadly our treasure is on earth.
Treasure on earth
If you have been in church long you may remember the story of the rich young ruler.
As Jesus was ministering to the people, a rich young ruler came to Him and ask what he must do to be saved. Jesus told him to obey the commandments and he said that he had from his youth up. However, the young man understood that something was still missing in his relationship with God.
This rich young ruler is like many church members today. He did not steal, commit adultery, or cheat people, he paid his tithes and may have given extra to the poor. However, he understood that he was not right with God.
This young ruler had done everything right except one thing that was keeping him from following Jesus. That one thing was his love of worldly possessions. You see God had given him a lot of wealth and it controlled him.
Could you do what Jesus told the young man to do?
22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me.”
23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. Luke 18:22-23 NKJV
Would we give up all we have to follow Jesus or would we be like the young ruler? Would we take up our cross and do what He asked of us?
These are questions all of us need to answer if we want to be true disciples.
Treasure in Heaven
The worldview is to get all you can get and keep as much of it as you can.
Sadly, we see some popular preachers and church leaders living in luxury while the poor of the world starve. When men own multi-million dollar mansions and claim to be men of God it is clear the God they serve is not Jesus.
Jesus told the young ruler to sell all, give it to the poor and follow Him. Wealth is not evil; it is how you get it and how you use it that can be sinful. It can very easily separate you from God and often does.
Jesus tells us what He expects of his disciples. 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Luke 9:23-25 NIV
Yes, we should have Treasure
Treasure is important! Where you have that treasure is even more important. In the verse from Matthew 6:20-21, Jesus tells us where to lay up that treasure.
Building treasure in any other place is unwise and it distracts you from the task that God gives you when you accept Jesus as your Savior. When we concentrate on building earthly wealth we get so busy that we fail to serve God.
Remember Jesus says, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21 NKJV
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. All you have to do is look around you and you can see that this is true. Things began to control your life. People even spend God’s money to rent storage units to store away their excess. How foolish can we be?
Eternity Living depends on what you value
Eternal life starts with your acceptance of Jesus as your Savior and Lord. When you accept Him you start your eternal life and you should live with eternity in mind.
You can not find the joy of the Lord in earthly treasure. The joy of the Lord comes from building on the foundation of love He gives you. Love for your brothers and sisters in Christ and love for those in need around you.
Start building that treasure that is secure in Jesus today. Plan everything you do with Heaven in mind. Trust God to provide all you need and excess for you to give to others.
Serve God with all your heart and He will provide for you. Work hard at whatever God provides for you, but use what you get to bring glory to God.
Value things of importance, not better cars, clothes, or houses. The world values those kinds of things and puts its hope in them. Your hope should be in Jesus.
Do Not Worry
I leave you with this. God can keep you and prosper you as you give back unto Him. He does not guarantee to make you rich, but He does promise life eternal with Him.
Jesus encourages you to put value in eternal things and trust God for all that you may need. You are to store up treasures in Heaven.
Jesus says, 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Matthew 6: 25 NKJV