Where The Heart Is

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.  

Matthew 6:19-21 

Where is our heart? As Christ concludes His summary statement about what matters most, He remarks ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ He is using the word ‘heart’ as the seat of our affection and devotion. He is saying if we become preoccupied with the tangible and temporal, they will become that which holds our affection and devotion. By contrast, if we become preoccupied with the spiritual and the eternal, those things will hold our affection and devotion. By His Own example, Christ occupied Himself with the spiritual, and eternal. He went about doing good without even having so much as a place to permanently dwell. He busied Himself with the souls of others, lived for them and died for them. If He contrasted all the wealth of the world as being of less value than the soul, then what would be the value of many souls? All these souls are eternal. Therefore, to live to do good to all these people must be the highest purpose. As those treasured souls gather together in the eternal kingdom, Christ is in the midst of them. His heart is where His people are. They are His treasure. As we learn the imitation of Christ, we learn to treasure what He values. Our perspective changes as does our preoccupation. Our heart follows our treasure.  

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You value what is eternal. 
We praise You that the end result of that 
is our salvation.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning