There will your heart be also ...

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“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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I once heard a preacher say that he could determine a person's passion for God by looking at their checkbook. I would not say it quite that crassly but I do think that a person's spending habits is a bit of a spiritual thermometer. It is like a man who adamantly avows that he loves his fiancee and spends all of his money on himself - the woman would do well to not marry such a selfish man. Like the woman, what God really wants is our love - our heart.

In contrast Jesus says in this passage that our heavenly Father's will is to give us the kingdom. And He asks us, in like manner, to give lovingly and generously to the needy. The Lord seems to be linking His giving to ours. It is like he is saying that He gives to us as we give to the needy. Yet the message is an inconvenient one in that Jesus says that we should sell our stuff to be able to give. His desire is that we give from our need and not our excess.

Help me to let go of my possessions today Lord. Help me to help the needy.

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