Tag Archives: treasure

Treasure

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“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 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.”
Matt. 6:19-21

“Treasure” is my word for 2024.

I picked this word because Jesus used it in The Sermon on the Mount. He made a distinction between “treasures on earth” and “treasures in heaven.”

I want to make sure I’m collecting the right kind of treasures.
I want to check up on my heart and see what’s stored up in there.
I want to find out what is truly precious and what’s worth a rust bucket.

The Bible Project is doing a year-long series on The Sermon on the Mount. I am giddy about this. A whole year on three chapters! As I was perusing Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7, my eyes kept going back to that one short passage. Like a magnet. That’s when I knew.

I’ll be on the lookout for the word “treasure” in the days ahead in songs, in books, in dreams and especially in the Word. A true treasure hunt!

Do you pick a word for the year? What is your word for 2024? 

More Treasure

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Remember Hushai the Arkite? (See my last post if you have no idea who Hushai the Arkite is.) It seems that Hushai was not one of those obscure biblical names that gets mentioned once and is never to be heard of again. Although I’ve never heard a sermon on Hushai, and he wasn’t in the Sunday school material, and I doubt if he’s on the list of great men of the Bible, Hushai actually plays pretty big in the saga of King David. (Read the biblical account for yourself in 2 Samuel 15-17.)

When David’s son Absalom attempted to usurp his father’s throne, David decided to leave Jerusalem rather than go to battle against his son. It was a tearful departure from the royal city and “the whole countryside wept aloud” as David and his entourage march out. “David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went.” “When David arrived at the summit…..Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him.”

I love Hushai for that. He was there in the glory days of David’s reign when it was an honor to be on the king’s list of insiders. And he was a faithful companion in David’s saddest, darkest days. I imagine David was comforted to see his friend’s face up on that Mount. There are friends you can call on in times of need, but then there are friends who just know when to show up at your door.

Hushai went on to enter the service of Absalom in order to be a spy for David and he played a key role in undermining Absalom’s plans to attack David. The name Hushai pops up one other time. David’s son Solomon followed his father as king and he appointed twelve district governors, one of which was Baana, son of Hushai. (1 Kings 4:16) It seems that while their fathers were at work in the palace, Solomon and Baana were forging their own friendship.

Friendship is a true treasure. Thank you for being a friend.