“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matthew 6:19-24
I have an Old Bible in my study at the church. The inscription in the front simply reads " Presented to Howard Conde Whiteman, Milroy, Indiana, 7-14-1917, 'From Mother.'" I don't know Howard Conde Whiteman, and I wonder who might still remember this man or his mother from July 14, 1917, what remains of his earthly legacy is shrouded in fog, and may disappear forever if no one knows him. However, what I can see is two Spiritual Legacies, that of Howard and His mother who invested in Him, along with some newspaper clippings, stories, and markers that were important to Howard as he walked with Christ. Why am I saying all of this? Because the things in this life we build will someday be gone, but our Spiritual legacy will continue long after no one remembers us. Howard's Bible has been an inspiration to me, though I never met the guy, or to my knowledge am not related to him. It makes me wonder: what will I leave behind that has eternal consequences?
This earth is passing away. No matter how much better we think we are, or how advanced we seem to get technologically, it is evident that our appetite (as a whole) for destruction is far greater than anything we could advance. We are people of passions that burn down everything around us, if left unchecked. Even if we do not, someday our homes, businesses, families, and everything we've built our lives around will be gone. YET, if we invest in the Eternal Kingdom of God, if we seek Him, and to love our neighbors that they may know Him, our impact for eternity will last forever. It is time to stop laying down real estate in this broken world. It's not our home; we're citizens of Heaven. Instead, let us, with the love for and of Jesus in our hearts seek to win souls, that the treasures we have when we realize our citizenship sing loudly along side us as we forever stand in the presence of Christ.
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