Have you ever stopped to think about why we still read books and make movies about pirates?
I think I may have stumbled across the answer this morning in my devotion time: Treasure.
We are a people obsessed with treasure!
Oh sure...we all love a good pirate joke from time to time, but the thing that gets our blood pumping is the hunt for the hidden. The pursuit of the pieces of eight and the gold doubloons.
There's a name for it in the mining industry: gold fever.
And it's a well deserving name. Evidently once a man finds his first bit of gold...his excitement reaches such a heightened place that he ceases to think rationally...begins to fantasize or believe that he is bound to strike it rich.
Gold fever has been the end of many a man. Loosing everything in pursuit of what's deemed as great gain.
(Do you see where we're headed here? Can I love you enough to be honest with you?)
According to the bible...we've got a pretty bad case of gold fever too. It's so bad...it's even made it into many of the pulpits of our churches. We want possessions and prosperity so desperately that we're willing to listen to anyone and try anything to get them.
We spend out lives in a constant pursuit of consumption...and yet we are never content or satisfied.
And in the midst of our exhaustion...our wrong priorities...our sickness and sin...Jesus steps in and simply tells us to stop.
Stop chasing after that elusive promotion or position of power.
Stop setting your sights on the accumulation of more stuff.
Stop fantasizing about a fleeting romance or a newer version of your spouse.
Stop.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." (Mt. 6:19)
In other words...stop longing for and living for things that won't last!
"Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." (Mt. 6:20).
Friend...God understands your desire for treasure. In fact, He placed a great desire for treasure deep within your heart.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has "set eternity in the human heart."
But what you need to understand is that you and I have exchanged that pursuit of true treasure for a poor, man-made copy!
We constantly cling to the wrong things and wonder why our heart aches for more! Why we feel so distant and discontent!
We fail to understand that our heart can only be in one place. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Mt. 6:21).
This week our family is trying something new. We are attempting to center ourselves around a single prayer for the week. Something we desire for every member of our family.
If you happen to be reading these words, I want you to know that I consider you part of our extended family, and thus I want to share this simple prayer with you too.
"More of you Jesus." That's it. Less of all the rest. Everything else has to decrease in our lives, but Christ needs to increase!
That's my prayer for you this week too. Stop chasing after the cheap copies and start spending time with the King. Jesus is the true treasure. And when we seek Him with all of our heart we will find Him (Jer. 29:13). And when He is our treasure...when our hearts are with Him...we find all of the joy, peace, and contentment that we so desperately long for.
I'm not asking you to stop searching. Rather, I'm praying you'll start searching for the right treasure.
"More of you Jesus, more of your face, more of your glory in this place..." I promise you won't regret the adventure!
Happy hunting friends!
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