On the Road to Jerusalem: Treasure of the Heart

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”—Luke 12:34

The Lenten season is a time when we evaluate our lives. We look in the mirror and take an assessment of who we are and where we are going. One of the things we can look at is where and how we spend our money. We are one of the wealthiest nations in the world. We have so much stuff that we don’t know what to do with it. How many other countries have storage facilities where people rent space to store their extra stuff? We have more stuff than we have room for! And we still don’t believe that we have enough!? How is it we spend all of our time and resources to accumulate for ourselves things we believe are going to help make our life easier, all the while making it more complicated in the process?

The fact of the matter is—we have our treasures here. We know this world and we are comfortable with it. We treasure what we can see and feel. But God reminds us through His Word that whatever we treasure, that’s where our heart will be. Our hearts are united to what gives us the greatest joy. However, many of us have taken our focus off of the Giver and onto the gift. We have treasured God’s gifts more than we have treasured God Himself, and this will not do. Whenever we treasure the gift more than the Giver we have become guilty of idolatry. And idolatry is serious, for at its core, it is saying that something is better and greater than God. God by nature is a jealous God. And while jealousy to most of us seems like a bad thing, in God it is actually good. He is jealous for us—wanting what is absolutely best for us, which is Himself. God desires our joy, and whenever we find our joy in something or someone other than Himself, He is grieved.

Christ is the most valuable treasure in the universe, and we must respond accordingly. He is God’s Son, the most supreme gift that could be given to man. There is nothing greater. There is no earthly kingdom, treasure, or person that could ever compare to how valuable He is. All of the wealth, power, and prestige of the world are like a drop in the bucket compared the ocean of His value.

Do you value Christ? Is He your supreme treasure? He must be—and can be nothing less. To have Jesus as second place means He has no place. He will not stand for being second place. You must have Christ first or you cannot have Him at all—His sacrifice was too great. Where is your treasure—in heaven or on earth? Does your heart beat more for the things of this world or for Jesus—our Savior King?

Each step on the road to Jerusalem revealed the depth of His love. He was determined to bring about our redemption and nothing would stop Him—not family, friends, sin, or Satan. Even the armies of hell couldn’t stop Him. God gave heaven’s greatest treasure for you; won’t you give your greatest treasure to Him—your heart? Do so today, for His glory and your joy. Amen.