What Does Your Heart Truly Desire?

"Today's Devotion" For August 5, 2005

Read: Galatians 1:1-9; Matthew 19:16-22

WHAT DOES YOUR HEART TRULY DESIRE?

"...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Mt. 6:20-21)

What do you treasure? What's valuable in your life? Before answering too quickly, think about what motivates your life and living. Some people are motivated by money and all the potential power having lots of it can give to a person. Other folks are motivated by prestige and fame, seeing their names in lights or having their faces on billboards and marquees. Still others are motivated by political power, while still others are motivated by possessions, owning unique things, and having more than anyone else. Perhaps it's also safe to say that every human being is motivated by self-interest and selfishness. While this is a sad commentary on human existence, in reality it's a very real truth.

Perhaps one of the more illustrative pictures of such motivation is found in Matthew's account of the rich young man in chapter 19. This young man had great wealth. He probably lived more lavishly than others. He liked his wealth, but it seems, based on the text, that he didn't feel fulfilled. He felt the need to be religious, somehow connecting wealth and religion in his mind. We're told that he believed that he had followed God's "rules" for being religious since his youth. He saw himself, from his own testimony to Jesus, as being an almost complete person. Yet somewhere in the midst of his self-promotion he felt he still lacked something in his behavior which was hindering his spiritual life. Jesus' response to this young man's claims cuts right to the heart of the matter - the young man was trying to save himself by his works, rather than following Jesus. What the young man's head and heart were doing were clinging to religion when what he needed was faith.

The Galation churches faced much the same problem, as St. Paul notes in his letter to them. They had lost their direction. There were a group of Jewish Christians who wanted all Christians to adhere to Jewish customs (these folks were called Judaizers). Unfortunately the Judaizers were making inroads into the faith-life of many Christians and turning them away from the Gospel. Instead of keeping their focus on Jesus and His free gift of salvation by grace through faith, too many Christians found themselves overwhelmed by the very human desire for earthly things.

You and I are no strangers to such temptations and challenges to our faith in Jesus. On a daily basis our faith is challenged as Satan does his level best to get us to lose our focus on Jesus. All to often we find ourselves focused on things that are not central to our faith in Christ and His saving act of salvation. We'll argue and debate about what are appropriate forms of worship, music, and other things which God never really defines nor commands as part of our worship and praise of His name. Too often we lose our focus on Jesus and His precious gift of the Word which leads us to Him. At the same time we often lose sight of the Gospel and fall short in our witness to His love.

What we hold to be valuable has a deep impact on our lives of faith. When we lose sight of what's important and valuable in our faith walk on this earth, we end up diminishing God's blessings and gifts to us. I'm reminded of the following story by Dr. Luis Palau, the famous evangelist, which illustrates this issue very well:

"A wealthy family planned to have their small child, who was already walking,
baptized at home in their mansion. Dozens of guests arrived dressed in the
latest fashions. After depositing their elegant wraps on an upstairs bed, they
were royally entertained by the proud parents. Finally, the time came for the
Baptismal ceremony. But where was the child? The child's governess searched
upstairs but returned with a desperate look on her face. Everybody began to
search - every corner and every nook and cranny of the house were searched.
Then someone recalled seeing the child sleeping in one of the beds. That is
just where they found her, beneath a pile of coats, jackets, and furs. The object
of the day's celebration had been forgotten, neglected, and nearly smothered."
("Have A Good Day," Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, vol.30, no.8)

Prayer: Father, I pray that You would send Your Spirit upon me to that I might never lose sight of Jesus beneath the pile of junk that keep drawing my attention away from my purpose as one of Your disciples. You have done the impossible - You sent Jesus into the flesh - the Word was made flesh and took on human form. By the power of Your Word and Spirit Jesus has come into my life and made me whole through His innocent suffering and death. His holy, precious blood has won the forgiveness of sins for me. Father, I pray that You would keep me faithful and focused on what's truly valuable and where my treasure truly is; keep me faithful and focused on the Cross and the Resurrection. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright @2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.