Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
Matthew 6:19-21 HCSB
If you ever want to know where someone’s heart is, look at two things. Where do they spend their money and where do they spend their time? These things will tell you where someone’s heart is.
Many people spend all their time working to pay for things that they can’t enjoy because they have to work so many hours to pay for them. Many people buy things like boats and golf equipment and join country clubs. These things are their excuses for not being in church on Sunday morning. Many people use their family as an excuse. They spend all this money trying to keep family members happy, not realizing that true happiness comes from God. The kind of happiness that money buys is temporary at best.
I get that we have to work and make a living, but I learned the hard way that God will help me out at work if I put Him first. If I give God my time, He will make time for me to do my job. Now, that may sound crazy to you, but I retired from one of those jobs where even if there were 48 hours in a single day you couldn’t get everything done. The more you did your job, the more work you actually created for yourself. I would get behind and go in on a Saturday to catch up. That was no problem. Then I started going in on Sundays to catch up and didn’t go to church, but went to my office instead. That made for a disastrous Monday where a whole lot more work got piled on me. However, I noticed after I had worked 3-4 Sundays (I told you, I am a slow learner) that working on Sunday made for a terrible Monday. But then I decided to do something different. I went in on Saturday and left a neat little pile of stuff to finish up on Monday. Instead of going to the office on Sunday, I went to church. Every time I did this God provided a nice smooth Monday where I was able to sit at my desk and finish up what I had started working on Saturday. Now some of you are sitting here saying that this was just a coincidence. First let me tell you that I don’t believe in coincidences. How can things be a coincidence when God is in control, right? But secondly a quiet, smooth running Monday was unheard of in our office. But it was as though God just made the way for me to not be bombarded with emails and voice mails and people coming by and needing things. He provided this quiet, smooth running Monday which allowed me to get so much done. It was awesome. No more working on Sunday for me after that. I give God my Sunday.
When I was spending my money on selfish desires, that didn’t work out so well either. I have always tithed the first ten percent out of my check, because I know when I do this that God takes care of my finances. But there was a time when the other 90 percent was all about me. I would pay my bills and then blow everything else on me and what I wanted. But now I have learned that being able to give to others is more important than spending a bunch of money on me.
I hope that when people ponder where I spend my money and my time that they see that it is with Jesus. I’ve told you before that our pastor says that true joy is when you put Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. So take a little look at where you spend your money and your time. Does it reflect a close, loving relationship with your Lord and Savior or does it reflect how much you love yourself?
Any one can plainly see where your heart is when they look at where you spend your time and your money. If your heart is not focused on God, then things are going to be out of balance for you my friend. We were made to love the Lord and put Him first. When we fail to do that, we fail to have true peace and joy in our lives.
My prayer for you today is that you put God first in every area of your life. When you do this, he will take care of all the rest (Matthew 6:33).
Have a great day!