What Do I Treasure?

We all have things we love very much. What is one thing you feel like you could never live without? 

Did you think of a food or a toy or a game or your clothes? You may have thought of your phone or your favorite social media app.

God wants us to be thankful and enjoy what He has given us. But He doesn’t want those things to be what we value most. Jesus had something to say about this in the book of Matthew.

When Jesus taught about God and healed people, large crowds of people would often gather near Him. One day He saw all the people gathering around Him.

Now imagine for a minute the scene. Jesus went and sat down on the side of a mountain, and a crowd of people joined Him there. Jesus looked out and saw the people. He loved them deeply and wanted them to know how God wanted them to live. With everyone listening closely, He began to teach.

What He taught became known as the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us about the things we treasure most. Can you help me find Matthew 6, verse 21? The book of Matthew is in the New Testament.

What do you think a treasure is? 

A treasure is something valuable or very important to someone.

Jesus taught us that what we treat as the most important thing in our life will reveal what we love and value the most. How we spend our time and what we love more than anything is like a mirror. It shows us what we treasure.

This verse is talking specifically about money. But are there other things we treasure? How can you know what you treasure most? 

What we think we could never live without shows us what we treasure. What we follow on social media shows us what we treasure. What we spend our money on shows us what we treasure.

It’s OK to find joy in the things we have. But our actions and our desires show us what is most important to us.

If you aren’t sure what you treasure, ask yourself the following questions: Is there something you think about all day and can’t wait until you are done with school so you can get back to it? If our family had no rules, what would you spend all of your time doing? What would break your heart if you had to give it up?

When something in our lives becomes more important to us than God, we must make changes. Luke 16:13 says we cannot serve God and something else.

Is there something in your life that has become more important to you than God? What needs to change in your life so you treasure Jesus more than money or things?