Where is your treasure?

As American Christians we are all having to continually fight against the "world" and its "toys".  Many times in our culture we see others with more or better "toys" than we have, such as a fancy sports car or a huge beautiful home.  To us, those with the best "toys" are the most well-to-do and successful.  However, 1 Corinthians 4:7 tells us that everything we have is from God, not luck or anything we have done for ourselves.

 

The verse goes like this: ..."What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"  It is true that hard, diligent work has its rewards.  The Proverbs say over and over not to be a "sluggard".  But when a person denies that what they have has been given is from the Lord, they often times tend to brag about what they have.  They think that they earned it all by themselves.  I think this is wrong.  For me, I believe that everything I have has been given to me by God and that they are His blessings upon me that I in no way deserve.  If I have a roof over my head, I need to thank the Lord for it.  Maybe the roof isn't as nice looking or expensive as others but never the less, it is what God has given to supply for my needs at this time.  It would be very wrong of me to say to God that His provision isn't good enough. 

 

It does seem sometimes that those who are unbelievers get all of the best "things" and don't have as many problems as believers do.  When I think that way, I need to remind myself that when it is all said and done, unbelievers will spend eternity in Hell.  Their good times will be past and eternity is a long, long time.  They bought into the lie that life on earth is all that really matters.  Their motto is "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die"

 

Believers on the other hand, may not have the best of everything on earth but we will spend eternity with God.  We will be eternally happy and Heaven promises to be gloriously beautiful!  On earth believers can be content with what the Lord has provided for them and have joy in their hearts.  Believers know that thay are just "passing through" and that life on earth is not the end-all, beat-all of their existence. 

 

Believers can boast about what the Lord has done in their lives and of the hope they have in Jesus.  I know I would rather boast about what God is doing in my life than in "things" that I may accumulate during my life on earth.  Things are just things.  There is a saying that we brought nothing with us and we can take nothing with us.  The Bible says to build up your treasures in Heaven, not where moth and rust destroy.