Happy Thursday. It is April 25, 2024. Hollywood has made dozens of adventure movies about hunting for treasure in pyramids, under the ocean, deep in the hills, and buried in caverns. Then there’s the other side … when miners spend a lifetime digging and come up empty! They were looking in the wrong places. Jesus tells us where He searches for treasure. It’s in a place where most don’t look, but if we want to hunt for what’s valuable, we should start where He looks. Read on …
Today's Reading:
1 Samuel 30,31; 1 Chronicles 10; Matthew 12
Scripture
“The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew 12:35)
Observation
We store up treasures, not in containers hidden under our beds; we hide life’s treasures in our hearts. It’s what we think about, muse on, and recollect often. These treasures influence everything about us. It is our bank, our credit union, and our storehouse where our values and our standards are derived. These determine our thoughts and intentions. However, not all treasures are good. We can have bad treasure: evil desires, selfish longings, or an appetite for immorality. We can store “evil treasures” without ever thinking about them, but eventually, these become our unspoken values. At first, they silently influence our inner conversations, and later, they hold us hostage.
Application
I must consciously and intentionally build good treasure in my heart. I cannot allow my mind to consider wrong or unbiblical conversations. It’s easy to fall into considerations of cupidity. The Word of God, guided by the Holy Spirit, must instruct my mind how to think. If not, I will not be able to control my inner conversations. My heart will eventually become unbiblical and ultimately carnal, and the consequence will be, after a lifetime of searching, I end up empty.
Prayer
Father, help me build good heart treasure by intentionally controlling my inner conversations. Help me to guard my heart with all diligence … for out of it will come all the issues of my life.
So, search me Oh God, and know my heart. Try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in Your everlasting way!
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