SCRIPTURE: Exodus 38
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. [Mathew 6:19-20] Moses provides us with a very detailed list of the valuables used to build the tabernacle. But where is it now? What is left of these ‘treasures’?

Moth and rust and thieves. Even this fine symbol of God’s presence with us has rotted and dissolved. How long will our homes last? Those expensive decorations we have in our living room? Our fancy clothes? Our refinished rooms? Our big churches? Our padded pews? Most and rust and thieves.

Jesus does not follow Moses in calling us to build buildings. With Jesus we enter a new day, a season when people are the priority. We are fishers of men, we are to seek and to save the lost. The treasures that Jesus values do not sparkle like gold or silver. He sees he AIDS victim, the homeless person, the abused child, the suicidal teenager, to depressed mother, the frightened citizen of a nation at war, the desperate cripple, the starving father. More than this, He sees and values the rich, the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the black and the white (and every colour in between). He sees the victim and the victimizer, the abuser and the abused. And He longs to see them all, to see us all, restored to God and reunited as family. He longs for the day when sinners repent, when they admit their desperate sin and their desperate need for help… and cry out to Him.

My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. [Isaiah 56:7] He is not impressed by the gold and silver. He is impressed by hearts humbled and healed in Him. These are the treasures that He seeks.

What about me? What about you? If my desire is to live for Jesus, to be like Jesus, to work with Jesus towards His restored kingdom, then can I say that I value the same things? Where is my treasure, where is my heart? Have I devoted all of my wealth, all of my time, all of my energy, all of my being to filling God’s heavenly storehouse with the treasures He seeks? Any investment in anything other than people will go the way of moth and rust and thieves. But eternal investments in God’s treasures will last for eternity.

PRAYER:
Lord, forgive me for being more invested in worldly treasures, rather than in the things You treasure. Help me to treasure what You treasure!