But seek ye first the kingdom of God

"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."
                                                                                Matthew 6:19-21


This scripture is not new to me...at least I didn't think it was.  I can remember really pondering it about 16 years ago when an energetic preacher from the middle of Ohio broke it down by tucking his thumbs behind the lapels of his sport coat, to show that moths corrupt clothes, while he leaned way back like he was driving a car, one hand on an imaginary steering wheel...it was pretty funny and made the point what does rust corrupt...and I also understood that the 3rd thing that we are not to lay up our treasures in is our home and the things in it...just for thieves to break in and steal I did get it...but did I really? 


10 Years later we are moving into our brand new home.  We hired a builder, found the perfect neighborhood, and then 7 months of thinking of little else.  There was the floor plan, the colors, the flooring, lighting, new furniture, cabinets, bathroom fixtures, counter-tops, farm sink or double sink? Hardwood stairs or carpeted? I can honestly say that this house had become an idol.  It was what I thought about when I didn't have to think about anything else. It is all I really wanted to talk about. Yup...idol.


God is so gracious....He really does want what is best for me.  He absolutely knows what is best for me.  Even when I would not chose what is best for me, in his rich and abundant love he gives me what is best for me, in spite of me.


So two months after we move in my husband is offered a job transfer 1900 miles away.  We can turn it down...no big deal, except that we know that God wants us to move 1900 miles away.  So, the "For Sale" sign goes up. Believe it or not, my biggest fear was that he would turn it down because of the house, and that we would not be where God wanted us.  Thankfully my husband obeyed the Lord, although it was not easy.


That was in 2005.  We have seen God do so much in our hearts and in our lives since then.  It is so obvious that we were blessed by Him to be able to move to Texas, Michigan, Texas again, and then finally here to Ohio where we were called by God to plant a church two years ago!  I have not thought about that house much in the last 7 years.  But as we do whenever we return to a town that we once have lived we drive by the "old house", (usually at the request of our children) we drove by the house we built.  And for some reason I told my husband to take a picture.  Well, as he does before he deletes them off his phone, he sends me pictures. This one I saved onto my computer.  Sure, no big deal...who wouldn't have a picture of the house they built or lived in?  Except, I felt kind of funny...as though I was doing something wrong when I saved it. Yeah....some people call that your conscience, I call it conviction.  Apparently there is more than just historical reasoning for my wanting to save the photo.


Our church is in a storefront, and we live in the 2 one-bedroom apartments above the church.  We renovated them to make them into one 3-bedroom apartment, and we have around 700 square feet, we have 2 "living rooms", but can't fit our sofas up the stairs, so we have one love seat in each living room, in the main living room we also have a chair, so this room comfortably seats 3 people. The kitchen is so small that it has a 2 person limit, seriously, the floor is 4'x5'. LOL! It sounds worse than it is...the place looks really nice, and it does have 2 bathrooms, which is huge!  And I am so very thankful for it.  I know that the Lord provided it, and I have really enjoyed living in it. 


But today as I was looking through my pictures and I came across this one, of our house that we built...I wanted to just look at it.  I recalled the way I felt today when I drove by the house on 3rd Street, here in town, and saw the "For Sale" sign gone and a woman swinging on the porch swing...the same porch swing I sat on a couple months ago, while I imagined my grand children playing on the porch, while my husband found every flaw and potential money pit, convincing him that we would be crazy to buy this house I had fallen in love with. And now it was sold...I was angry!  I was mad at the woman on the swing and I was especially angry at my husband for letting such an awesome deal on such an awesome house get away while we live in a cramped apartment above a storefront church!


So I think I have some getting right to do....I thought I got it, and in my head I did...but this truth in my heart is not so iron clad...."For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."


"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."


Forgive me Lord for my covetousness, which is idolatry!  Help me to have a heart for the things that really matter, the souls of the lost, helping others, showing your love to the world around me, pleasing you with my words thoughts and deeds!  None of this world will matter, I hope I can truly see that.