Hey everyone, this is Christian. Welcome back to the Men of Valor Podcast. I wanted to share a verse today that my family and I have been talking about over the past week or so about where your treasure is and where your heart lies. It comes from Matthew 6 verses 19 through 21, “‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

"What is your treasure? Where does your wealth lie?"

I was thinking about this verse for my kids and I know the kids have had children's church lessons about it in the past, but I really believe the verse is for us men today. And that the best way for us to teach it to our children, or anyone, is to live it - to truly demonstrate it. I know this to be true because if you know someone or even just met them, it doesn't take very long to determine what their treasure might be as you talk to them. For children, they know where their parents treasure lies, regardless of what the parents may say, they know almost instinctively because they grew up watching our every move, our every reaction to every situation.

If your children have ever had to write about you for school where they list all your likes and dislikes and maybe your favorite things to do, there are usually some really funny, but also eye-opening answers that come out of it because you get to see what their image of you is. Children just naturally build this image of us by the things that they see us do; how we spend our time, how I treat my wife and others, what makes me excited or upset or sad. I think we can even say that children know by our body language or by the tone in our voice how we are feeling. As parents, we keep an eye on what they read and watch on TV, but we ourselves are an open book to them and are read by them constantly, even more so because they want to be just like us.

"Yes, we do work and save, but the bank account is not the treasure of our lives."

Other versions use ‘wealth’ instead of ‘treasure’. And Matthew is saying - do not spend your life becoming wealthy on earth - not because it's bad to have money or things, but because he is saying - they will come to an end and in one moment you can lose it all. What a sad thing for a man to lose everything that is dear to him or the thing that is most dear to him. Yes, we do work and save, but the bank account is not the treasure of our lives. It says, instead store up wealth in heaven. And what does that mean? It’s simply to put God first and to be the most important. Every time we value God above something else that may be seemingly important, we begin to make deposits in heaven. If, for example, we need to make a simple decision and we seek God, we pray first, we are showing our children what is valuable to us. God's thoughts are valuable to Daddy; He is the most valuable; He is the greatest treasure.