Optimist Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

“Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. These are the from the teachings of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 6.

Many of us would do well to sort out our excess “stuff” we gather on this earth and keep only what we need, but sometimes it is difficult to part with things we treasure. Do we really need all of those books we’ve already read? Or do we need to keep those special dishes that came from a special relative? But I think we all like to hang on to stuff. After all, we might need that certain item some day…. Or maybe we could sell it! It is a guilt trip no matter what.

The challenge in managing our treasures is thinking through what we need, what we love, and what we can share with others. If we don’t sort that stuff out it becomes a burden. We know we can’t take it with us, but if we think about Jesus’s words, He is telling us to store our treasures in heaven…. meaning the special things we do in the name of God, the acts of obedience we do as we share His love, and His compassion with those around us. Our intentions need to be to seek the fulfillment of God’s purposes in all we do as we walk on this earth.

Yes, we do treasure stuff and that’s OK, but while we are checking our closets to see if we need to toss out those clothes we wore a few years ago, maybe we also need to check our spiritual closets. Do we have attitudes that need adjusted, people to forgive, or do we need to praise God more than we do?

By God’s grace, maybe we can clean out and store more treasures in heaven!!