For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21

The car stops suddenly in front of the house…

A stranger hurries up the driveway…

“Those are my rocks,” she says. “I’ll just take them.”

The homeowner looks confused.

“Oh. I forget to tell you. My son used to live in this house.”

“We brought the rocks from the farm where I grew up.”

“And the cow skulls. They’re mine too. I’ll get a wheelbarrow.”

“I love all these things.”

“They remind me of the farm.”

“I love that farm so much.”

The next day, the doorbell rings…

“Hi,” says the young woman at the door.

“My husband and I will be walking around your house looking at your siding.”

“Huh?”

“We’ve got paint chips and we want to find one that matches the color of your siding.”

“We didn’t want to freak you out standing right next to your house, so we thought we should tell you what we’re doing.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,” says the home owner, “why are you looking at the color of our house?”

“I should have told you. This is my brother’s house. I mean it used to be his house.”

“We love the paint color.”

“We want to paint our house the same color.”

Rocks…

Paint colors…

Places from our past…

The things we love.

 We surround ourselves with the worldly things we love…

Thinking we will hold on to them forever.

Forgetting we are only…

… a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James 4:14

Forgetting our earthly treasures will vanish with us…

For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,  1 Peter 1:24 

That it is foolish to gather our earthly treasures around us…

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…” Matthew 6:19

For earthly treasures distract our hearts from what matters to God…

 ^… lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21

The first version of this post appeared in April, 2015