S178P9 – Jesus said that: the dying hearts
Mt. 6:19-21
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.
When we think of the heart (the emotional, not the physical), we might think of things like affection and devotion. When we say that another has captured our hearts, we mean that this person has gained our attention in a unique way. The heart is the place from which we pour out adoration and care. It also can be a place of power and courage. When a fighter who is the clear underdog steps into the ring and takes on the champ without showing fear, we say that he has heart. This is the same heart that motivates the powerless to take on those who impose themselves upon them. It is this emotional repository of love, power and motivation to which Jesus refered here.
The emotional heart moves us in many different ways for many different reasons. The idea of finding our hearts in the same places where we store our treasures is about investment. The heart contains so much emotional energy that God would love for us to use to build his kingdom. Our problem is that we are tempted to use those hearts to build all kinds of other things than what God intended. Some build financial treasure here on earth while others build a treasure of reputation to glorify themselves. Jesus confronted both kinds of builders while He lived among us. [v. 16; Mk. 10:17-22] Their challenge and ours is to decide what is truly worth the investment of our hearts.
When we read these words of Christ, we see that He described the malinvested treasures as degrading and eventually becoming nothing. Perhaps we might miss the fact that Jesus also said that our hearts are in that same place with those treasures. This is all about the preservation of the heart. It is within our hands whether we lead our hearts to a place of death or a place of life. That path to death is the default, and it takes work to change course. Let us take some time to evaluate soberly where we have invested our hearts and whether these investments will last. Father, show us the worthless investments that we have made with our hearts so that we can change course and invest wisely in true treasure.