When I was a boy, I would roam the gentle hills around Derita, a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. There were fishing lakes, open pastures and sometimes treasure troves. One of my favorite haunts was The Brown House Lake. We called it that because a brown house was near the center of the lake. I caught many 'a fish' and ran from many 'a snake' at that wonderful place.
Above the lake, and near one of the local highways, was an old homestead. It was, at the time I knew it, (using the words of James Taylor from the song Copperline) "tore up, and tore up good!" One day, while scrubbing in the dirt, I discovered an old garbage pit behind the homestead. I started digging, and found rotted out tin cans, old trash that had been thrown out, and a large number of old milk bottles bearing the names of local dairies. I took one home and discovered, from my dad, that the old bottles had some value. I brought them home and dad took them down to a flea market and sold them. He gave me the money and I bought my first really good fishing reel and rod. I thought the bottles were valueless, but someone that knew more than me saw, and realized, value in them.
We live in a world that likes to bring us down. It tells us we have little or no value. Humanists tell us we are just high-level mammals with opposable thumbs. Culture tells us we should seek our value in money, fame and the approval of people ... and this de-values us even more. So, where do we find our real worth?
2 Corinthians 4:7 reminds us where to find real value. "For we have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." What does this teach us?
1. We have great treasure
2. We hold this treasure in fragile clay (our earthly bodies)
3. Our treasure has/is light and power
4. Our treasure is a gift ... it doesn't come from within, but without.
Let's talk about treasure this Sunday! How do you think our treasure is opened? What else does the Bible say about treasure and us?
Read Deuteronomy 14:2, 2 Corinthians 4, Matthew 6:21 and Matthew 13:44. We will talk! Randy
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