Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

"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 will your heart be also."  Matthew 6:19-21


About a year and a half ago is was thinking about this passage while I was listening to the "Radical" series by David Platt.  I started thinking about how we spend our money as a family, where our treasure is, and therefore where our heart is. I didn't like the test results.  Our hearts, it seems, were at Best Buy,Costco, Cheveron, Countrywide Mortgage and a whole bunch of other retailers and corporations. Yes, there was a very small portion going to where I wanted my heart to be. But could I really say that that's where my treasure is? In truth I was, as Francis Chan says, "throwing God the leftovers." 


After being confronted with this reality we decided to make some changes. We did this by asking, "where do we want our hearts to be"?  Then we started directing our treasure there.Though I suppose people could be manipulated into putting their treasure into something and not have their hearts follow,  I believe it does start in one's heart and that the checkbook is a mere reflection of the values, beliefs and priorities in their heart.  I also, realize that at some point, if your heart is changed your checkbook will reflect that.  In other words, there comes a time when external change needs to follow internal change. For me, that took entirely way too long, decades really.  For so long I was talking about things that God put on my heart, and He did, yet I was being so stingy with my resources.  Looking back, I know my growth in these things was stunted.  Perhaps that's one reason why the whole topic of extreme poverty has become more personal, more heartfelt and real to us in the last year and half, because we direct most of our giving to ministries that reach out to the poorest of the poor with God's love.


I, like you, get very weary of preachers telling me how good it is for me to give money to the church. I like you, have seen the obscene excesses on TBN and the like.  In the past I've gotten so cynical or scared to give money for fear I was getting scammed, that I simply didn't give (Classic sign of a stingy person by the way). 
I do want to be very clear here.  I do not, nor do I recommend giving to a ministry blindly.  Know where the money goes, consider asking for the latest financials, if they're a larger ministry, check charitynavigator.org or other watchdog groups.  My point is that we can find so many reasons not to give our money to help the poor, and this can quickly lead to greedy hoarding of wealth.  The only reason I know this so well is because until fairly recently, I've lived that out. 


As we move forward on this blog I want to present opportunities in addition to the "Real Life Exhibit" for you to get involved. One way is to give generously to ministries like the ones we're highlighting on this blog. My prayer is that as you take the time to watch some of these videos and visit some of these websites/blogs, that you will be moved in your heart and your treasure will follow.  I know for me and my family, it has been a time of joy and satisfaction that cannot be bought at Best Buy or Home Depot!


"How many more cars, clothes, toys and trinkets do we really need before we wake up and realize that half of the world goes to bed every night with empty stomachs and naked bodies?"   KP Yohannan - (President of Gospel for Asia)