Treasures :D

Today I feel blessed. 

My summer has officially started and this means that I have an awful lot of free time - I mean, what am I supposed to do with myself? 

Today though, Mum and I decided to go for a bit of shopping. It was a rather successful shopping trip and I bought several new items to add to my already "bursting-at-the-seams" wardrobe. 

When we got back from our spot of retail therapy I decided to have a go at tidying my room. When I say tidying, I mean making an awful mess by pulling everything out of my drawers, wardrobe and from under my bed and trying to find a home for each item, preferably a home that I will remember in the future. I found a pound coin at the bottom of one drawer (for which I was rather chuffed) and a fork in one of my handbags (which confused me slightly). I arranged my vast array of nail polishes into a colour spectrum and returned all rediscovered treasures to their natural habitats. Seeing everything that I have made me feel so lucky and grateful, but I know that even the most prized of my possessions are worthless when compared to what I have in God.

In Matthew it says: “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..." 

Today has made me think about my treasures. I need to make sure that all my treasures are in God. I love my clothes, shoes and bags (like any girl), but it should not be a priority for me. Eventually my clothes and shoes will wear out and my bags will break. But God is everlasting. It is much more worthwhile to invest in him. 

So often I start to worry about what I look like or whether I look good in what I am wearing. I have to remind myself that God will provide everything I need - clothes, food, relationships... I don't need to worry at all about my earthly needs. Everything I have belongs to God. Everything I am belongs to God. Everything I do should honour God, but so often it doesn't. 

Writing this I'm reminded of one of my favourite songs - God of Justice by Tim Hughes. I love this song so much. The lyrics say, "Freely we've received, Now freely we will give..." God has blessed me so much. He has given me these things freely. He gave me eternal life freely. He gave me love freely. Now freely, I must give these gifts. This can actually be rather hard. I mean sometimes (okay often) it is pretty hard to 'freely' love my brothers. It is hard to 'freely' give my time to people and to 'freely' share everything that God had given to me. But I must. 


Tim Hughes sings:

"We must go, live to feed the hungry

Stand beside the broken

We must go."

The song just puts everything I live for into perspective. What do I live for? Where are my treasures? If I live for earthly things like appearance and my treasures consist of shoes and clothes, my life is pretty useless, no matter how gorgeous my clothes or how sparkly my shoes - what is the point of life if it is living for those insignificant things?

Living to feed the hungry. Whether I literally am providing food for people, or whether I feed people in terms of teaching, I know that this is a life worth living. But If I am going to live life to feed the hungry and stand beside the broken - I need to be secure in God. Even if I gave away everything I owned and literally all I did was focus on feeding the hungry, my resources would run out. But God has infinite resources and his blessings never end.

 The verse in Matthew says that where our treasures are, our heart is also. How can I help the broken and hurting and how am I supposed to feed the hungry when my heart is in earthly treasures? No, my heart needs to be focused on heaven. I need to honour God in everything I do and trust that if I focus my attention on heavenly treasures, God will provide everything that I need. I need to follow God's footsteps so that I know where to find the hungry and hurting people. I need to make sure that my treasures are not in earthly things, but in things of the everlasting God.

Freely I've received, now freely I will give. I must go. I will live to feed the hungry. I will stand beside the broken. 

I must go.

Thank you God for everything that I have. Thank you that you are never-ending. Help me to be grateful for everything and to remember that I need to store my treasures in heaven. Help me to be generous and freely give away what I have freely been given by You.

Amen.