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Storing Up Treasure
It started out as a small shoe box under the bed. Beautifully adorned with cut-out hearts and flowers from scraps of construction paper. Coloring crayons added the perfect touch to this school-girl treasure box.
Peeking inside displayed the collection of accumulated possessions and memories. A necklace made of beads and yarn. A few chestnuts that were picked up on the walk to school. A picture of a man holding a baby with a smile that resembled her own. A Bible verse from a Sunday School Teacher with the words Matthew 6:21 written in nice handwriting. A rock that was shimmery, most definitely a real diamond that must be protected. Notes of love from the man of her dreams along with little mementos from the first restaurant they dined at or the theatre tickets from one of the many dates. Mother's Day cards from the three small children that filled their home with laughter.
The box was opened from time-to-time and the memories took her on the long walk of life. Matthew 6:21 Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Were these the treasures that kept her heart?
The necklace was nothing more than a gift from a grade school friend now long forgotten. The chestnuts, soft and smooth found value to a little girl and worth tucking away in the little tattered box, but certainly not priceless. The man holding the baby in the picture only brought disappointment in not being perfect as she had imagined a father would be. Matthew 6:21 had little meaning as she didn't know her heart nor understand the treasures spoken of. The diamond rock speaks for itself. The love of her life and the children they raised remind her that she is capable of loving and being loved.
Certainly her love and the children they raised are priceless and precious riches that money cannot buy, treasures in their own right. What about eternity? Are there treasures that last long after the lives of those lived? These questions began the search for answers hidden in her little shoe box under the bed.
The verse neatly written on a little piece of paper was found in an old Bible never opened or read. This began the journey of her life! The Road Map in this Book explained perfectly how to obtain them. They were not free. They cost a life and would last an eternity.
Annette Lou Williams
Matthew 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
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