Wednesday, August 6, 2025
“Don’t store
up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and
where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths
and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your
treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6: 19
21, New Living Translation)
We have a small storage area in our apartment.
It is now chock-and-block filled with everything that we couldn’t fit into the
rest of the apartment. Heaven only knows what may be in those several boxes and
bins. Even though we discarded piles and
piles of unneeded stuff, we still have a crammed storage space of miscellaneous
who-knows-what. Oh well, our children can
sort it all out when we are gone.
Perhaps, it is human nature that we
hang on to what is old, unneeded and ends up as clutter and baggage. It is one thing to hang on to keepsakes, old
photos, memorabilia that may elicit fond memories, emotions and a few good
stories. But it is when we cling to the
old, hang on to the past, embrace nostalgia that we get stuck and mired or overwhelmed
in emotional debris and useless sentimentality. Or worse – we store up regrets, grudges, complaints,
criticisms, judgments, envy, malice, sins, habits, worry, anxieties, etc. One might think that
these are not treasures, per se, yet we put high value on them and give them precious
status in our lives. We hang on to them dearly. They come with a high cost to our own welfare,
relationships and outlook on life. Even
so, it is hard to let them go.
But Jesus urges us to put these things
in proper perspective. Don’t let these things define us. Don’t let them hold us
back from a more abundant form of living. Don’t let our baggage and our past weigh
us down. For some of us, in the light of
Jesus Christ, it is time to clean house, to let go of all the attitudes, behaviour
and brittleness that fills our minds, spirits and hearts. None of that matters anymore.
It is of no use. It is not worth the bother. We are made new. We get a fresh
start. We get a better perspective if we don’t have to peek up over the jumbles.
But we are not striving for mere emptiness.
Instead, we are seeking to fill our lives with the attributes of Love, Forgiveness,
Compassion and Joy. We open up our minds, hearts and spirits to let the cleansing
breath of the Holy Spirit sweep out the old and bring in the new. We should
have an enormous capacity to live the right and best way – to follow Jesus
Christ. “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his
love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the
Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a
favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t
push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself
aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own
advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of
yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.” (Philippians 2: 1 -5 The
Message Bible) Or simply put in other translations: “Let the same mind be in
you that was in Christ Jesus…” (NRSV)
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me
Melt me, mold me
Fill me, use me
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me
Dale
