Matthew 6:19-23
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
Where is your treasure at? Being completely honest with myself, it was education! I mean maybe that isn’t so bad right? Truth be told I do not think it is so bad but it is a serious distraction. For real now this is where my mind has been going in terms of education:
– Get my A.A. in Healthcare Administration for the Military
– Get my B.S. in Biblical and Theological Studies by December 2014
– Get a Master’s in Evangelism within the year following the race
– Follow that up with a Doctorate in Medicine
That’s a ton of schooling! I know I am crazy and that is why my treasure has been stored in education. I get the fact that I am in a degree that is all about the Bible but I have really clouded God out with my schooling. Over the weekend I heard a message on Matthew 6:19-23 that really hit me. The pastor said before he read this verse to just listen. So I did as he read it. Then he said “this time close your eyes and pick a word or phrase that God has used to catch your attention.” So he read it again and for some reason the word “rust” stuck out to me. Weird I know!!! Then he said, “I am going to read it one more time while you are keeping your eyes closed so that you can let God in so your mind can just explore every direction it chooses with the word or phrase.” As he read it I was getting more and more sure that the word “RUST” was profound. So I asked God to just let me in on what he was trying to tell me. My first thought was that rust is ugly, it breaks things down. That was as far I was able to stretch my mind. So I asked God in praying again for his guidance and in the middle of the prayer I started of thinking about my chemistry. CHEMISTRY!!!!! No way, not fun! But as it was sticking to my mind, I realized that the science behind rust is actually very symbolic of our Christian walk. Just like steel/iron are solid and can hold skyscrapers up, so is our belief in God. Many of us think that just because we have Christ as our firm foundation that we are not going to fall. So looking at rust, little oxygen molecules seep into the steel/iron and seemingly begin to break down all that has seemed so strong. Furthermore, looking at oxygen, it is something so small and important that brings life yet breaks down. How is it that the very same thing that give you and I life can also form such a product that when made into rust can cause serious damage? So I mended over that thought. Then it hit me. I entertain things everyday that do not seem bad at all. Work, school, gym, eating, friend…etc, it is all good. However, what God was showing me in this imaginative Bible reading was that despite the fact that things can be good, too much can seep in before you know that you’re actually pushing God away. It kind of reminds me of boiling a frog. When you put a frog in boiling water it adjusts to the temperature before it just dies. That is the war the Devil is waging everyday against you and I. He may be presenting you with so many good things that in the end God is far away.
I was thoroughly encouraged by this exercise and I can honestly say that a different me changed after I heard God through the word “RUST.” It may be funny, weird, crazy, irrational, or whatever else you may think, but I know that my treasure is in Jesus now after he searched me and revealed my false treasure. I am made new continually each day in Christ and I never cease to be open to hear, see, breath, taste, touch, and smell the different ways in which he will do it!
UPDATE: So I am only $300 dollars away from my first deadline of $3,500 dollars and I am so thankful to all who have given toward this great work that God is doing in my life! My next deadline is going to be December 18th and I am going to have to fundraise $7,500 dollars by then! I know this may be bold to say but I am looking for monthly supporters in prayer and in giving. It may be overly simplistic to say but if 100 people gave $10 dollars a month for 10 months, I would be done fundraising!!!!!! Also, I am getting ready to have a T-Shirt made for my fundraising so if anyone is interested in one, please let me know 🙂
Finally I want to leave with this amazing quote my Ignatius:
“Many of us cannot be used as food for the world’s hunger, because we have yet to be broken in Christ’s hands. Grain must first be ground to make bread, and being a blessing of his often requires sorrow on our part. Yet even sorrow is not too high a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with Christ’s blessings. God has made me as bread for His chosen ones, and if it is necessary of me to be ground in the teeth of lions in order to feed his children, then blessed be the name of the Lord.”
