“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —Luke 12:33-34.

02 Dec, 2020

The word ‘selah’ throughout Scripture is used as an exclamation mark at the end of a verse to help us pause and reflect on its meaning. Today, in day two of our Christmas devotional series, we are resting on Luke 12:33-34. Selah.

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Where Your Treasure Is

by Anna Hutchins

I have enjoyed several reality TV shows over the years but if you were to tell me that my latest reality show addiction would be based on cleaning, I would have said no way!

But here I am. The kids are in bed, my cup of tea is ready, and I’m on the lounge, watching people clean and tidy and organise. Maybe as I sit in the clutter of strewn toys, random placed stickers and even a few dead bugs on our shelf, I’m living vicariously through their neatly labelled lives.

Riding off the success of Marie Kondo, organising has suddenly found its spotlight. Late 2019, second-hand stores were inundated with donated goods, while storage solutions were making a comeback. Everyone was purging the things that did not spark joy. This year, “The Home Edit” has hit our screens as two “organising consultants” enter the homes of celebrities and civilians to help them sort out their lives.

While Marie Kondo wanted to spark joy, beneficiaries of “The Home Edit” talk about feeling “more centred” and calmed by the organising process. They feel in control, like they can finally relax. If their breakfast cereals are in order, they can take on the rest of their life as well.

But as much as these shows make us feel good—pouring rice bubbles into a labelled canister brings order amidst the chaos—the Bible reminds us that the joy will not last.

In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of a rich man who yielded an abundant harvest.

“And he thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

What Jesus was saying is that we have been sold a lie.

The house, the car, the holiday, the outfit—they won’t last. And they won’t bring the joy that we so desperately seek. Jesus sums it up later in the chapter:

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —Luke 12:33-34

Because whether it’s an organised wardrobe or a brand-new home, everything begins to wear out. The spiderwebs come, the cracks appear, and the dead bugs keep returning.

Our possessions do not last.

(Some of our habits don’t either: After arranging my family’s socks according to the Marie Kondo method for a good four weeks, I soon reverted to bundling them up into a ball and throwing them into whatever drawer space was available.)

So rather than storing our treasures in memento boxes with colour-coded cursive script, Jesus tells us to store our treasure in Heaven. Not in bigger barns, not in clothing, or cars or superannuation, but in Heaven.

Because it is only there that our purse cannot wear out. Only there that the thief cannot come near, or the moth destroy. Only there that we can find true joy.

Our Father has been pleased to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12.32), and His call to us is to store our treasure in the right place.

For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.

Dear Jesus,

Help our family to think about where our treasure is. What have we been storing up that we should have been giving away? Help us to be rich towards you and open our hearts to those who are in need.

Amen

Anna Hutchins

Anna is the Sydney Area Manager for Compassion Australia, while raising (wrangling!) three young boys in the Blue Mountains. She loves Jesus and sharing from God’s Word.

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