His Greatest Treasure
“Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions,” Jesus says. Think about that for a moment. Deep inside, we already know this to be true.
Recall the day you held your child or grandchild for the first time. Remember the times you pulled them close and whispered your dreams into their tiny ears. Can you picture their faces?
What were your greatest hopes and dreams for that child? What were your sincerest prayers for their life? What did you want for them more than anything else?
Was it a big fancy house? Shelves full of books? A closet full of shoes and purses? Did you pray they’d always be on the winning team or that they’d be rich and wealthy? Did you hope they’d be number one in their class and become more powerful, important, and successful than everyone else? Probably not.
Why weren’t those your first concerns? Because deep down, you knew that “life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” If we know that to be true for them, then we should know it to be true for ourselves, too. We want more than that for our children.
I bet you prayed that those children would find meaning and purpose in their lives. You hoped and prayed their lives would be filled with joy. You wished them a life of peace and prayed they’d one day look in the mirror and see their own beauty. You wanted them to trust their own goodness and discover their own holiness. You prayed they’d find that special someone and know what it’s like to love and be loved unconditionally. You wished they’d imagine and live out all the wonderful possibilities for their life.
The reason those were your prayers, hopes, and wishes is because deep inside, you know and want those same things for your own life. You touched your own richness toward God. You caught a glimpse of the treasure that you are and want to be, the treasure that God knows you already are.
What if you lived that way? What if you lived as God’s treasure? How would your life be different? What possibilities would that create in your relationships? What might you need to do to claim yourself as the treasure God already knows you to be?
To be truly rich, Jesus says we must be rich toward God. Generous and ready to share, rich in good works. We need to see ourselves that way and live out that potential.
It’s easier when we know unequivocally that God loves us and wants that for us, too. It’s easier when we see that one day when we stand before God we’ll finally know that His greatest treasure is us.
