Life is Always about Giving Up One Treasure for Another

Life is Always about Giving Up One Treasure for Another 

The title of this post is a famous quote, oft repeated, but I haven’t been able to track down its source. It is, of course, Biblical. Hear this verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: Matt. 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.  The implication is that you cannot do both at the same time. Again, let’s listen to Jesus: Matt. 6:24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Let’s think of a common example: marriage. When one finds a “treasure” and proposes to her, he is giving up one treasure for another. From a world-ish point of view, he once could do pretty much as he pleased. But now, in light of this new covenantal relationship, he is to be occupied with pleasing her as well, and even pleasing her before himself. Having just celebrated 45 years of marriage, that “treasure” exchange was well worth it.

From a Biblical point of view, we recognize that we are all slaves of something. Many are slaves of their own passions, often times the pursuit of money, and so that subject is already addressed the second Bible reference above. We all serve something, often our own selves. But when we meet Christ, we are re-directed to serve others before self: Phil. 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. When we meet Jesus, we find One who has done this very thing even as He provided redemption for us: Matt. 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Let me give you one more Bible illustration: Moses. God rescued him at his birth and then placed him in Pharaoh’s household in Egypt, taken from slavery to royalty. He live and grew in privilege and prosperity. But he had a heart for his people, and so he left the palace for the wilderness, entered into a long-running conflict with the most powerful man in the world, and then a life of leading an obstinate people in the wilderness for 40 years. Centuries later, the author of Hebrews says of Moses: Heb. 11:26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. He gave up one treasure for another. The first treasure was but temporal; the latter, eternal.

One could take the quote from our title and use it to better himself/herself in this world. But that is not really the point, is it? The greater point is, will you choose the treasure that is “out of this world” more than the treasure that is bound by this world, which also serves to bind you to the fate of a world? Jesus, like Moses, left the palace of heaven to ransom or redeem obstinate people like ourselves, who would then be called “His people”, having accepted His loving leadership in our lives. 

Life is always about giving up one treasure for Another.

Short-Form Addiction

Short-Form Addiction

We know that digital communication has changed the world. It has changed our life patterns, and even the ways that our brains work. It has required new equipment built for the new technology, and we go along. No need for pencils and paper. No need for newspapers or books. No need for a Bible.

The most recent phase of short-form communication is video - a clip from a TV series; stunts on trick bikes; amateur tree- cutting fails. You can find these on YouTube and Facebook and all the others as well. I’m not personally familiar, but it seems to be how TikTok came to be. But short-form video is taking over text. And, it is addictive.

The algorithms feed you what it has figured out you like to watch, and you can spend a couple of hours lost in the disjointed stream. But at the same time, you are so immersed that you don’t know how much time has gone by until you “wake up.” And then, if you have any sense left, you feel silly for having wasted so much time.

When is the last time that you found yourself immersed in a good book? When was the last time that you were that immersed in your Bible? How often do we lose track of time in prayer? But the new “short form” has you in its grip, and it has changed your brain. We need to get it back.

For those who have been trained by “short form”s for frequent satisfaction from clever snippets, working through a book is so much harder. Reading and searching your Bible for God’s answers to your questions is difficult and demanding. Thinking about how to pray for a person with a difficult problem, and what you can do to help the situation and not hurt - and asking God for wisdom and opportunity to proceed - these are not matters of brain tease. But it was what we were designed for.

Our brains were not designed to be tickled, but worked. We need to learn how to work our brains.TV started it so many years ago. Magazines brought the glossy pictures. The theater perfected video and sound effects. But the small screen of a computer, laptop, tablet, and phone has taken us into our own little worlds where we can click and sample as though we live in a candy store, and when we emerge from that session, the lack of nutrition is comparable.

As you might expect, I wonder how this affects sermons, or more importantly, sermon-listening. I wonder how many are ready for short-form sermons - just a punchy thought or inspiration for the hour, then on to something else. And if you could put it into a 10-second video, then if you want, you could flick past it, or even, on that rare occasion, listen to it and repeat it once again, just so you could digest that whole piece of nothingness.

In the Temptation, Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” God did not split His words into tweets or put them into a short-form video. He spoke in context, at length, with great variety of contexts and voices, speaking to the heart and soul; to the understanding and will. But to get it, to digest it, it takes some time away from the screen. We need to get our brains back.