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| Where
Is Your Heart
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Where is your
heart? The answer to an anatomy test question would be in the
chest, between the lungs, behind the sternum, above the
diaphragm, surrounded by the pericardium. You and I both know
that when the Bible speaks of a person’s heart it is rarely
in the context of the anatomical location of this physical
human pump. Mostly it is spoken of with “regards as the
center of a person’s thoughts and emotions, esp. love or
compassion.”
In Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34 Jesus tells us “For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It would
seem that if we want to find our heart it could be found with
our treasure. Where is your treasure? That is where you will
find your heart.
The meaning of treasure is that “a treasure is something
that we value highly. It is something of great value. It is a
very valuable object.” Jesus tell us in Matthew 12:44 that
the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field
that when a man finds it he hides it and goes and sells all
that he has and buys the field so that he might have the
treasure.
In Luke 12 Jesus warns against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees
and covetousness. Hypocrisy deals with pretending to be
something or someone we are not. Covetousness is “a great
desire to possess something, typically something belonging to
someone else.” These go hand in hand. We need to be able to
discern what is truly valuable. The things of this world
should not become our treasure.
In Matthew 19 a young man came asking Jesus “what good thing
should I do that I might have eternal life?” Jesus answered
and said unto him, “if you want to enter into life, keep the
commandments.” The young man asked further, “Which
ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,' ‘You shall
not commit adultery,' ‘You shall not steal,' ‘You shall
not bear false witness,' ‘Honor your father and your
mother,' and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept
from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him,
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he
went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
We must be careful that we do not let the material things of
this life become our treasure. Satan is well aware that
material possessions can cause us to give God less than our
whole heart. God demands our whole heart. There can be nothing
less.
All of us that have the ability to see have seen the glory of
a rainbow in the sky after a thunderstorm or rain shower. To
most animals a rainbow does not exist. You see they cannot see
in color. The retina of humans has rods and cones. The cones
only detect color. Most animal retinas only have rods.
Therefore, most animals can only see in shades of gray. They
cannot see a rainbow.
May we have the spiritual eyesight to be able to see that the
treasures of this world should not be where we place our
heart. May we give our whole heart to God and our complete
obedience to His Word.
May we do
as is written in Matthew 6:19-20, “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.”
Is your treasure in heaven? Then your heart is in the right
place.
Ron Kirkwood, D.O.
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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