I’ve heard it said that the most valuable things in life cannot be seen, touched, held, or possessed. I am convinced that this is true. It is also true that we spend most of our energy and resources chasing things that are far less valuable. We get distracted by the shiny trinket and fail to see the treasure sitting beside it.
When I look at a list of the greatest valuables in the cosmos and then look at the truly bad things going on in our society, or in our world for that matter, I can see a connection. All of the bad in our world…….all of the evil……is a direct result of our failure to pursue the truly valuable treasures that are right in front of us.
So…….what is truly valuable?
God……father, son and spirit……creator, redeemer, and teacher.
Our soul…….the only part of us that is permanent.
Eternity……..paradise and hell……where we will spend all but a brief moment of our existence.
Love……..the motivating force behind all of it.
We discount, we ignore, these things because we cannot see them. So…….I have an exercise for you. Write down the one thing, relationship, idea that you would miss the most…….if it were gone…….forever. Then search your world and find something more precious to you. Keep repeating this until you find the most precious thing in your world. You will find that it is likely something that is not physical…….it is not something that you can see.
If your most precious thing is a physical object, then I challenge you to abandon the shallow water and dive deeper. Because the best things in life are not physical objects………even better…….they are free.
If your most precious thing is a Maclaren roadster that you can probably never afford, then you shouldn’t be surprised if your life seems shallow…….meaningless. To find meaning, to find joy, to find fulfillment……..pursue a loving relationship……..first with God, the inventor of love……then with someone in your world……..then with everyone else.
Because that is what your soul was created for……..any other pursuit………is a waste of your time.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Jesus, Matthew 13: 44-46, ESV
An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
Proverbs 31:10, ESV
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 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.
Jesus, Matthew 6:19,-21, ESV
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Jesus, Matthew 16:26, ESV