Sometimes The Best Answer Is The Simplest

The Word of God is a wonderful mystery that is revealed through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is key. Without the key the Bible appears to be a bunch of babble with archaic rules. With Jesus it becomes a testament to Yahweh's love for us and a thing that enters and changes us. Some days it appears like a mystery we will never grasp and other days it comes across like baby food, obvious and impossible to misunderstand.

Here is an example of one verse, eleven words, whose truth is plain but the application of which provokes great change:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

I think you would attest to the truth of these words. They only make sense in the direct logic they convey. Simple. Straightforward. Easy to understand. Not much room to argue against it. The challenge is not found in the understanding of it but in the application.

Whatever you consider to be important will take priority in your life. You can tell your wife a million times that you love her but if she always comes last in your list of priorities, your true heart is revealed. If you tell your daughter she is important to you but every time she wants to talk you are too busy, your true heart is revealed. If you tell Jesus you love him, attend church but can't find any time for him the rest of the week, your true heart is revealed.

There is no getting around the truth of this statement.

If your car is your treasure, then your car will be getting your attention, time and money. If your xbox is your treasure, then your games will be getting your attention, time and money. You may try to find a girlfriend who likes gaming just as much as you but that's so you can spend time with your true love without feeling guilty. You can give Jesus all the excuses you want but you and I both know that you weren't that busy this week. The problem was that you were caught in the time trap of social media because that is where your heart is.

This is a significant issue that needs to be addressed because so many of us claim love for Jesus but our actions belie the true condition of our heart. Let me remind you again that our part of the covenant with Jesus is to love Yahweh with our entire being, to be consumed by him with even greater passion than when we are sometimes consumed by things of this world:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)(Deuteronomy 6:5)

The point is, our treasure is suppose to be Jesus, not our car, xbox or even our girlfriend. His love is the priority, or at least should be. Take a lot around with me. Take a look at our fellow Christians. No judgement here, only observation. We may say with our lips we love him but our feet, hands and wallet tell us that our love has found a different treasure.

Take a quick inventory with me:

1. What one thing takes the greater portion of your time?
2. What one thing do you spend the most time thinking about?
3. What one thing do you spend the most money on?
4. What one thing consumes the greater portion of your energy?

Now, after answering these, where is your heart? What is your treasure? Could this be why Jesus seems so distant? Could this be why the Scriptures feel so cold? Could this be why nothing seems to be going right? Could this be why you seem so confused?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

May the Lord be gracious, to open our eyes, to receive our confession and to restore our hearts to him. Purify us Lord. Make us as one with you. May there be power in the Church for the winning of the lost.

The Benefits of Detail

Good morning my friends,

You look tired. Did you find there was too much detail in this morning’s reading? As we read Exodus 29 and 30 you might find yourself yawning or contemplating skipping this section; others do. I encourage you to press on. As I said yesterday, there is significant purpose behind each one of these things that are being described to us. However, if you do not have time today to research all of these items then consider this one thing: it is good that our God is into details.

Let us consider another item that he gives great detail to; us. He knows us so well because he is into details. In fact, he knows us far better than ourselves. The great company Google also knows us better than ourselves as they keep tabs on what we search for on the internet and then they know what ads to throw our way. However, the Father knows us far more intimately than this and for a better reason.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

Now there is detail for you. As a child I imagined there was one angel assigned to every person just to count their hair every day. Now I imagine my angel working more with subtraction than addition. The fact is we change; the number of hairs, our height, our weight, our preferences in food and friends, our goals, our ideals and so on, yet God is up to date on everything. This is what we cannot forget about our God:

O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD. (Psalm 139:1-4)


Before it is even on my tongue he knows the words I will speak. Some people find this unbelievable but we all do it, to a lesser extent. When we know someone really well we can often guess what they will say before they say it. This can be extremely funny between parent and child because they know each other very well. With the Father it is even more so because he has known the details even before they existed:


For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)


Not even a parent knows their child this well. The Father is privy to our most private, secret and embarrassing stuff. He does not read our diaries and journals; he does not need to. He is actually right there experiencing every moment with us. He has done this from the beginning. Some things he has rejoiced in with us. Other things he has abhorred and he remembers those who have harmed us. He knows it all and that is why we read:


But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)


Even though he knows everything, the good, the bad and the ugly, Jesus Christ still went all the way for us. He went all the way because the Father knew there was no other way to rescue us. He knew we were enslaved and there was no way out. He knew that no matter how hard we tried we could not rescue ourselves. He knew the details of our difficulties and he did something about it.


I for one am very happy the Father knows the details. I am glad he knows the good and the bad. I am glad because his attention to these details reminds me that he loves me beyond any love I can experience from anyone else. It also means he will help me take care of the bad stuff. It is better to deal with it here and now than when we are standing before him on that day of judgment.


So be glad and rejoice. He is God. We are his people. And he is here with us.