I vividly remember the last night I spent in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was March, and I was traveling with my family from Arizona to Illinois for meetings. We were traveling in our dually F350 truck, filled to the gills with a month’s worth of supplies. These “supplies” included winter clothes, school supplies, electronics such as iPads and laptops, and some hiking gear such as backpacks and a tent. Most of these items we left in the truck bed with a topper securely covering it as we spent the night in a hotel just off the interstate.
Before six the next morning, my dad peered out the window to look at our truck. As was his custom, Dad had parked the truck within eyeshot of our hotel room. This morning, he didn’t see it. At first, he wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. But then his eyes caught a glimpse of taillights—our truck’s taillights—just as it was pulling around the building. Still in shock, dad walked out to the parking lot and stood in the space where he’d parked the truck the night before. He had parked it right under a light pole with a sign posted on it reading: “Not responsible for lost or stolen items.” The night before, two police cars had been parked directly across from this spot. To make sure the truck was missing, Dad walked around the parking lot twice before calling the police to report the truck stolen.
Hours later, the police arrived. They were very kind, but they were also very swamped. We learned that Albuquerque, NM has one of the highest rates of car theft in the United States! One more truck stolen wasn’t a big deal for the police. After we had rented a van and were a few hours into our trip, we got the call that our truck was found! When we drove back to Albuquerque to pick it up in a junk yard, we discovered a battered version of our truck and no trace of our stuff! Among the lost items were some expensive hiking gear, an iPad, a laptop, my brother’s dress clothes and a good portion of his wardrobe, some school books and dvds, sermon notes, and other items with sentimental value.
At the time, I was miffed about the things I had lost. I even shed a few tears over them! I felt angry, and sad, and violated in a way. From this experience, I learned two things. First, my affections were much more devoted to my possessions than I had thought. Later, I realized that my possessions did not make as much of a difference in my life as I had thought. Just a couple years after the event, I could not recall all the items I had lost.
Perhaps you can think of such a loss in your life. Most likely, yours was more significant than the one I shared here. Whatever loss you’ve suffered, such losses make Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19-20 even more poignant.
In Matthew 6:19, Jesus warns us against a misplaced focus—a focus on accumulating earthly treasure. He says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” As good as they may be, the treasures we can accumulate here are extremely vulnerable. Clothing is vulnerable to the destruction of moths. Metal is vulnerable to the corrosion of rust. Everything is vulnerable to the thievery of dishonest men. Perhaps the apostle Paul described earthly treasure most accurately when he said in I Timothy 6:17, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches.” Similarly Proverbs 23:5 says, “For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” The problem with earthly treasure is that it simply cannot be trusted.
Such a love of earthly treasure is a misplaced affection. Earthly treasure is not a worthy object of our love because it is temporal. As I John 2:15-17 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any many love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” Our hearts do not have the capacity to love two opposite things at once. We must choose the object of our affections. If we choose to make earthly treasure the object of our affections, then our purpose will pass away when the world and its treasures pass away.
How can we focus our affections on a more worthy object?
First, we must recognize our tendency to wrap our affections around earthly treasure. My pastor recently preached from Luke 12:15. Here Jesus admonished, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Why would Jesus issue such a strong admonition unless we have a tendency toward covetousness—toward wrapping our affections around earthly treasure? On one hand, it is understandable that we would become attached to earthly treasure. After all, earthly treasure is what we can see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. It gives us a false sense of control and security. This earthly treasure may not be money for you. It could be a position, a person, a career, a passion, or another possession that captures your affection away from God. What is it for you? What are you most invested in? Whatever your heart says is the ultimate source of your peace, happiness, hope, or security is the thing that has captured your affections.
In addition to recognizing this tendency, we must recognize the trap it lays for us. The Bible does not say that earthly treasure is intrinsically evil, but it does that the love of earthly treasure is a trap. I Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” When we inordinately love earthly treasure—when all our time, resources, and energy is put toward laying up earthly treasures—this breeds greed, covetousness, and discontentment in our lives. These vices lead to self-inflicted sorrow. On a small scale, my temper-tantrum over losing my stuff in Albuquerque illustrates this truth. The more tightly our affections are wrapped around earthly treasure, the more painful it is to be pried away from our earthly treasure.
This brings us to the third step we must take toward focusing our affections. We must realize what is our true treasure. And that is Jesus Christ and the inheritance we have through Him! When we accepted Christ as our Savior, we received two great treasures: eternal life and the Holy Spirit. Not only that, but we also received, as joint heirs with Christ, a heavenly treasure. This inheritance is a promise as Ephesians 1:11 says, “In whom [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” God has predetermined that anyone who will be His child will also be the beneficiary of His inheritance! This promised inheritance is also a lasting inheritance. I Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” In contrast with the earthly treasure vulnerable to corruption (Matthew 6:19), our heavenly inheritance is incorruptible. Unlike our earthly treasure that will pass away with the world (I John 2:17), our heavenly inheritance will never fade away.
Now that we have realized our true treasure in Christ, we are ready to take the fourth step toward focusing our affections. We are ready to place our affections on the only worthy object.
As Christians, we are called to a higher purpose, a grander pursuit than accumulating earthly treasure. Colossians 3:1-2 says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.” Seeking is a matter of focus. When you are seeking for something you’ve lost, you put away all distractions around you—even good things—so that you can find the one thing you need. So, when we are seeking godliness, we must put away all the distractions of earthly things. We cannot divide our affections among positions, prestige, and possessions while seeking godliness at the same time. Seeking is the opposite of divided attention. Seeking is directed attention; it is focus. We must direct our attention and focus our affections on God and His will. As I John 2:17, doing God’s will is the only legacy that will last.
When I reflect on that day in Albuquerque, I’m reminded of C. S. Lewis’ words in The Problem of Pain: “All these toys were never intended to possess my heart. My true good is in another world, and my only real treasure is Christ.” (Lewis, p. 106) Any earthly treasure that could capture our affection will pass away. This is not to say that we should not love any thing or person on earth. Rather, this is to say that no earthly thing or person should capture our affection away from God. Sometimes God has to strip things away from us in order to help us realize that our greatest need, our deepest desire, our truest treasure is God Himself. Everything else is just an added bonus! We must ask ourselves, “Are my affections captured by earthly treasure or focused on things above?” A life of peace, purpose, and contentment testifies to the power of focused affections.