Aye, Aye, Me Hearties--It's a Treasure Trove for You!

"How would you like to go to a place that is chock full of treasure upon treasure?" That sure got the audience's attention!

From my seat at the edge of the middle of the auditorium I made my own informal survey. Yup. A wave of backs straightening and faces rapidly swiveling forward gave proof of riveted attention. I fixed my eyes on the middle aged pastor who had made a foray into Mexico to encourage this mix of missionaries. He had my attention, too. God knew all of us could use some encouragement--as well as monies for ministry expenses! The speaker couldn't have hit on a more captivating topic.

As he scanned the crowd, the man of God finally shared where to find this treasure. "At the dump."

Huh? The dump???? The dump is where the Lone Ranger throws his trash ! ("At the dump, at the dump, at the dump, dump, dump"--sung to the music of the Lone Ranger's theme song. An old corny joke.) Treasure there????

The minister lifted his mouth in a wry grin. He knew he'd piqued our curiosity! With intense passion he scoured through the crowd again, making eye contact and spearing us with the truth of his words.

"Yes, the dump. Every item there was at one time someone's treasure. It was something someone wanted, saved for, bought, treasured. But as time went on it got old. And now it is at the dump. The final resting place of every treasure purchased here on earth."

Well! He had us there! Silence blanketed the listeners as the truth of those words sunk in.

No wonder Jesus said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal" (Matthew 6:19). (I wish the raccoons that ravage our corn were Christians and read this verse!)

But in the very next verse Jesus added, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."

What did Jesus mean? There is no bank where you can deposit money to be stored in Heaven … or is there?????

When my first husband passed away I remember looking at him, or rather his earthly shell, resting there in his coffin, and wanting so badly to give him something, anything to make it all right. Women are like that, born nurturers, we want to fix things, make them better. But you can't fix death. Death is … death. And there is absolutely nothing you can give a loved one to "fix" their predicament, their state of earthly demise. They are dead. Stone cold dead, dead as a doornail dead. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do to make it better.

It was there, as I rested my eyes on my dead husband's earthly remains, suffering the throes of the exasperating inability to right the situation or even make it a smidgeon better, that I experienced an epiphany. God touched me and let me "see" this truth--that while Steve wasn't taking any money or earthly goods with him to Heaven, he had a whole storeroom of treasures he had accumulated here on earth! And those he had waiting for him to enjoy in Heaven!

I can see your raised eyebrows! I am not crazy, people!

Hebrews 7:8 says, "Here, mortal men receive tithes, but there (Heaven) he receives them …" We give offerings and tithes here on earth and of course it stands to reason that a mortal man receives and uses them--a preacher, a minister, a missionary, even another believer. But hold on to your hats! Those offerings don't stop there! The final resting place of what we give to the Lord is not on this earth!

As a matter of fact, in order to fully understand what happens to that which we give here on earth, we have to look to some other words spoken by our amazing big brother Jesus. He said, "For whosever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward" (Mark 9:41). In other words, anything given in the name of the Lord (tithes, offerings, gifts, hospitality) to another being here on earth, carries with it a heavenly recompense! Just like those pneumatic tubes at drive-up banks, where you put your deposit in the little special canister, press the button, and send it on its way to the nifty bank teller at the window who is ready and willing to take your deposit or issue you some of your hard earned cash. The concept is similar in the spiritual world. Only in God's economy, you don't use a canister or a drive-up bank-you deposit into your Heavenly account through the purposeful act of giving to Him !!!!

Steve was a minister and a missionary. Every message, every teaching, every prayer, every word of counsel he offered, every sacrifice he made in leaving his native country to serve God, all came with a corresponding reward in Heaven. He couldn't take anything with him--but he had deposited plenty in God's heavenly "bank" during his earthly sojourn and the reward for each act and sacrifice was waiting for him in Heaven!

Believe you me, this realization lifted the crushing weight of wanting desperately to give him something for his journey Heavenward! I didn't need to lift a finger! Steve had packed his bags for Heaven with the life of service he lived and the continual offerings he had given to God as he lived the life of a disciplined Christian. The life he lived had joy and rewards awaiting him in Heaven! What a way to go! To have lived a life of guaranteed Heavenly rewards!!!!

So … with all that is in me, I want to go the same way. I do not want to live a life focused on obtaining junk that will end up at the dump! I want my life to be a living sacrifice. I want my bags packed and ready for the best journey yet to come--Heaven!

"... Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:20-21)