Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Jun 5, 2007 1:42:18 GMT -5
WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE
“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul; Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Luke 12: 16 – 21, 34
King James Version
Sometimes we think like this man in the parable when it comes to serving Jesus. We think that we will have a long time to tell others about the love of Jesus and so we put off until tomorrow what we should do every day. We have forgotten the importance and the urgency of telling people that Jesus loves them. God called the man in the parable a fool. He said “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided”?
If we were to listen closely, I believe we would hear Him saying to each one of us “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee”. Would we do things differently today if we knew that we would die tonight? In many cases, I am convinced that we would. I think that instead of spending so many hours watching football games on television that we would pick up the telephone and call our loved ones or send them an email just to tell them that we love them.
When we will ever get it from our heads and into our hearts that we should never assume that our families and friends know that we love them. Every time I think about this issue, I’m reminded of the man who said “My wife knows that I love her because I married her”. What arrogance! I certainly would not want to be this man’s wife. Just because we say nice things and do nice things for people does not mean that we love them because we are commanded by Jesus to do these things. When I lived in Oklahoma , I heard a man telling his friend “I don’t love my wife. I’m just nice to her because the Bible says to be nice to our wives”.
When we are nice to people, it does not automatically convey a declaration of unconditional love for our families and friends. I have heard so many people say this in their testimonies and have also read this same statement in books countless times “Why didn’t I tell them that I loved them because now it is too late as they are dead”. It is urgent and essential that we say these three words “I love you”. I think if we are honest with ourselves, all of us need to be told by our loved ones that they love us and we want to hear them say to us “I love you”. Shouldn’t we also understand that they too want us to tell them that we love them?
Where is your treasure today? Is it in the television, in your spouse, in your children, in your homes, in your parents, in your siblings, in your material possessions and in your jobs? If your treasure is in any of these things, then your heart is not with Jesus and you are breaking His heart. What is in your treasure chest today, things that please Jesus and make Him happy or is your treasure chest filled with criticism, sarcasm, unforgiveness, bitterness and jealousy which makes satan happy?
Joanne Lowe
June 3, 2007
joannelowe8@cox.net
joannelowe.blogspot.com/
www.heavenwardbound.com/
“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul; Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Luke 12: 16 – 21, 34
King James Version
Sometimes we think like this man in the parable when it comes to serving Jesus. We think that we will have a long time to tell others about the love of Jesus and so we put off until tomorrow what we should do every day. We have forgotten the importance and the urgency of telling people that Jesus loves them. God called the man in the parable a fool. He said “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided”?
If we were to listen closely, I believe we would hear Him saying to each one of us “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee”. Would we do things differently today if we knew that we would die tonight? In many cases, I am convinced that we would. I think that instead of spending so many hours watching football games on television that we would pick up the telephone and call our loved ones or send them an email just to tell them that we love them.
When we will ever get it from our heads and into our hearts that we should never assume that our families and friends know that we love them. Every time I think about this issue, I’m reminded of the man who said “My wife knows that I love her because I married her”. What arrogance! I certainly would not want to be this man’s wife. Just because we say nice things and do nice things for people does not mean that we love them because we are commanded by Jesus to do these things. When I lived in Oklahoma , I heard a man telling his friend “I don’t love my wife. I’m just nice to her because the Bible says to be nice to our wives”.
When we are nice to people, it does not automatically convey a declaration of unconditional love for our families and friends. I have heard so many people say this in their testimonies and have also read this same statement in books countless times “Why didn’t I tell them that I loved them because now it is too late as they are dead”. It is urgent and essential that we say these three words “I love you”. I think if we are honest with ourselves, all of us need to be told by our loved ones that they love us and we want to hear them say to us “I love you”. Shouldn’t we also understand that they too want us to tell them that we love them?
Where is your treasure today? Is it in the television, in your spouse, in your children, in your homes, in your parents, in your siblings, in your material possessions and in your jobs? If your treasure is in any of these things, then your heart is not with Jesus and you are breaking His heart. What is in your treasure chest today, things that please Jesus and make Him happy or is your treasure chest filled with criticism, sarcasm, unforgiveness, bitterness and jealousy which makes satan happy?
Joanne Lowe
June 3, 2007
joannelowe8@cox.net
joannelowe.blogspot.com/
www.heavenwardbound.com/