For where your treasure is, there your heart also will be. --Jesus
New Years resolutions are kind of a joke. We all have intentions that we don't follow through with. We all have habits we'd like to think we could break. But alas, turning to a new page on a calendar doesn't make us any better than the flawed, tired, well-intentioned, undisciplined people we've always been.
People do change and grow. But growth usually comes slowly, like planting seeds and waiting for the right combination of soil and weather and mysterious life to bring forth a crop in its time. The question isn't whether we make resolutions for our gardens to be bigger and better. The question is what sort of seeds we are planting.
Jesus talks about changed hearts resulting from the way we invest our treasure. I think he was talking about our use of money but also time, energy, passion, attention. Most of what we learn, doesn't come from following a lesson plan. It comes from investing time in our passions, surrounding ourselves with books and experiences that help us grow in our favorite field--whether history or hunting, sports or music.
Followers of Jesus don't need a schedule of doctrines to learn. We grow by devoting time to reading the Bible, investing attention in prayer, spending our energy on the things that we want to be most important in our lives. The earliest people to accept the message of Jesus devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). That's how they grew closer to God.
The earliest people to accept the message of Jesus devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). That's how they grew closer to God.
Where are we putting our treasure? That's where our hearts will eventually be. What kind of seeds are we planting? That's what we'll eventually harvest.
If you're looking for a place to invest yourself in Biblical teaching and loving teamwork, Laughlintown Christian Church meets for worship every Sunday at 10 a.m. This coming Sunday (January 12), come an hour early to share a breakfast with us. And every day of the week, let's encourage each other to invest our energy in things that bring us closer to God.
--Jonathan
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