Where is your Heart

Where is your heart
Matthew’s gospel tells of this incident,
“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 
“Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’’” 
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Matthew 19:16-22.
Wear is your heart. If you claim to be Christian is your heart with God or with your possessions?
They young man who came to Jesus had at the very least an intellectual knowledge of God. He believed God existed yet he wasn’t truly committed to God. He followed the laws of God but he lacked faith. His faith was in his wealth. He wasn’t willing to sell everything he had and allow God to meet his needs.
Now there is nothing wrong with wealth the apostle Paul states,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
It’s the love of money that causes the problem.
Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21.
As believers in Christ we must be willing to give up everything for God if he asks us to do so.
Would you be willing to give all you have to serve God?
Please think about it.

Where is your heart

Where is your heart

     “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
     But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, 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 your heart in the treasures you have around you or in heaven? I have met many men and women over the years who’ve worked hard and got the nice house with all the nice toys, along with all the bobbles, bangles and beads. At the end of their life however all they have amassed means nothing.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with being rich. The apostle Paul writing to Timothy states,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 
                                                                             1 Timothy 6:10.
It’s the love of money that can turn us from God and cause us grief.
There is evidence in church history that wealthy men helped fund the young church. They used their wealth in God’s service.
The key when it comes to your treasures is that you don’t put them ahead of God or the Lords service.
I have met many men that say they are Christians but have put in endless hours of overtime that they admitted they didn’t need. They did it so they could buy an up scale car or boat.
In the process of making that extra money, money they didn’t need, they skipped church and any kind of fellowship with God’s people. It proved to me that their heart was in the things of this world.
God and his service should be first in our lives.
I know there are many Christians around the world and even here in North America that need extra money. It’s a sad fact that some companies don’t pay their employees a living wage and that those employees need to work extra hours or a second job to make ends meet.
Still as someone who has been in that situation, I believe we should still put God first. There’s nothing wrong with skipping church occasionally if necessary but it should not become a habit.
God should come first in our lives. We should want to go to church and have fellowship with other believers. When we miss church we should feel at least mildly upset.
I know when I’ve had to miss church I turn to the media, be it television, radio, or internet. I even listened to short wave radio in years past to hear a sermon and worship God.
The media however shouldn’t be replacing going to church and being with other believers. There’s a whole different dynamic happens when we interact in with other believers in church or at a bible study. One that can’t be duplicated by watching things in the media.
So the question becomes, where is your heart?
Please think about it.