Treasure Hunt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TREASURE HUNT

Luke 12:32-34

32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

NIV

Now that we have been convinced not to worry about our lives, and how much we have or do, or want to do, we are also told not to be afraid, because our Father who is in heaven has given us the kingdom. We possess the kingdom of God. That sounds a little strange to say we possess it, but the fact is we are citizens of His kingdom. It has come to us, that we can live in the kingdom of God, rather than living attached or being someone who lives in or is a citizen of this world, which means we live according to the principles of this world, working, striving for personal gain, like that rich man Jesus told in the parable. He was all about himself and his personal gain. That is the world’s way, but we have been given the kingdom of God. However, as we see in the acts of the Apostles which Luke recorded as well, some of them did sell their land and gave the profit of the sale for the common good of all believers. Then there was Ananias and Sapphira, who sold their land but lied about the price, holding back some for their own gain. That was not the way to gain the kingdom of God, still, clinging to the way of the world. Now we do not sell our possessions like they did in the early church, and we do not have all our wealth in common. We each live for our own personal gain, although we give a tenth more or less, for the benefit of the church. When we look back beyond this early church, we do not see this selling of all possessions, such as with Abraham who became wealthy, but his heart was for God. However, the early church was different, and today’s church is different, yet faith has remained the same, and the bent of our hearts must be the same. We are to put our treasure in the heavenly realms rather than the earthly realm. We have seen people who are invested in this world have their money vanish in an instant, while others have managed to store enough to sit back relax, and take life easy, trusting in their money, rather than God. Yes, we need all the things of the world, but we have been told that God would give them to us if we look to the kingdom of God first and foremost. It is all about what we think is important, and where we put our trust for our daily walk in this world, and our future place in this world. Whatever we treasure as valuable is where our heart lies. It always comes back to not being able to serve two masters. Can we say our treasures are laid up beyond the blue and we can’t feel at home in the world anymore? What treasure hunt are we on?