Where is your heart?

Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What are your plans for today? What do you hope to get done? How will you relax? Perhaps we can dig a little bit deeper and ask the why questions. Why are you planning to do those things? Why do you relax in that way?

Perhaps today you aim to get the grocery shopping done. It's something most of us have to do every week. In answer to why we can state the obvious, "Because we need to eat!" However there is another motivation behind our shopping that will determine what we buy, and in fact where we buy it. Jesus, in this section of the sermon on the mount, is talking about the lure of money and the way it can take over our lives. If we are seeking treasure on earth we tend to go one of two ways (and often a mixture of the two). We may seek to shop very carefully so as to spend as little as possible, therefore keeping as much money for other things as possible. Or we may enjoy spending on "treats" and fancy food, both to spoil ourselves and to show everyone that we can afford to buy the Waitrose Premium carrots, rather than the Tesco value ones!

Alternatively, if we are seeking treasure in heaven, our overriding desire will be the glory of God. We will buy to take care of our bodies which belong to God ("you are not your own, you were bought at a price"), so we may well buy better quality food. We will spend wisely and within our budget so as to honour God in how we use our money, so the Tesco value range will not be beneath us. We may try to buy fair trade products so that we are loving our neighbours in poorer countries. All to the glory of God.

Where your treasure is, there your heart is. What you treasure in your heart is revealed by your weekly shopping list, how you do your work, the way you respond to your family, how you relax, how you deal with frustration, etc. Do not store up for yourself treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, but store up for yourself treasure in heaven where your treasure is eternal.

If you set your heart on the glory of God, showing the world how fantastic Jesus is, in all you do, making that your treasure, then you will find a treasure that nothing can destroy and no-one can steal.