Leaving Treasures

The show’s opening scene pictured a collage of sports action shots and the words that described them were, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” The world of sports displays the competitive nature of human life, one against another, one against nature, team against team. Sports are played for exercise and entertainment but competition in our lives extends well beyond the sports world.

Competition is a part of almost everything we do. We compete for a living. Whether it is for grades in a classroom, or applications for a job, or bids for a large contract, the setting is a competition. And throughout life we measure success by how much is gained from those contests. We live like the tee shirt jokingly says, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins.” But life is more than gathering treasures from victories.

Jesus cautioned against the pursuit of such worldly treasures. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

“All glory is fleeting,” George Patton observed. Where victory was once celebrated stands a monument decaying into a distant memory. But it is not the pursuit of victories one should avoid. Those are gifts from God. It is addiction to their treasures that one should be wary.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves,” Apostle Paul urges, (Philipians 2:3) Caring for others is an act of love, the kind of love Jesus commanded us to do. “As I have loved you, you must love one another,” he said. My grandfather set an example for me.

The wealth he accumulated in his lifetime was modest by today’s standards; still his successes earned the admiration of the small community where he lived. I admired it too, I confess. But now my grandfather’s treasures have filtered their way through his heirs into distant memory. But it is not for his financial successes that I remember him.

I remember him for the love he gave. I remember his love for my grandmother and his family. But most of all, I remember him for his love for me. I feel it still today.

“Love one another,” Jesus commanded. It’s the greatest treasure to leave.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

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