Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:33-34)
“Anima ubi est amat non ubi est animat” said the great Augustine. Was he speaking in tongues? Yes, the ancient language of Latin. Here’s the interpretation: “The soul is where it loves, not where it lives.” Augustine gets this truth straight from Jesus Christ Himself. Where your treasure is, that’s where your heart is. Your heart always follows it’s treasure. Our hearts were designed as treasure seeking machines. From the moment we are born we are constantly seeking some treasure to delight in. There are very few who give up the search and resign themselves to despair. Most never give up the search. Jesus was speaking especially about money. Some have thought that money is the treasure that their heart seeks. Probably not because of money itself, but because it is a gateway drug to all the other treasures it can buy. Some have enough money and time to test different things to see if those things are the treasure their heart seeks. Some just keep trying the same things over and over even though they give only temporary relief at best. (Compare the attraction of an illicit sexual encounter before and after.) Others drown out the search through things like alcohol or drugs or even sometimes prescription medication. But the search remains. Our hearts will not stop seeking a treasure to delight in. It is indelibly painted onto the heart of man. It is the Programmer’s Code and it cannot be overwritten. Why? God put it in our hearts to seek Him. He is the treasure that answers our heart’s search. Our hearts’ yearnings are the ‘homing device’ that draws us to Him. Therefore, Jesus says, make sure your treasure is in heaven. The thing about treasure in heaven is that it never disappoints. It will never fail, or be taken from you or become corrupt. If your treasure is money, give it away. This way, you will store up treasure in heaven and your heart will be drawn there. If it is sex, refrain from anything other than marriage so that you will save up for yourself the treasure of the deepest intercourse with God in heaven of which sexual intercourse is only a dim picture. If it is food, hold back. Save up for yourself the treasure of eternal feasting with Jesus. If it is lying, stop. Save up for yourself the treasure of truth in heaven forever. Pray and ask God to help you seek and store up treasure in heaven. Ask the Spirit to persuade your heart that God is the Treasure you seek. Deposit your heart with Him for safekeeping until the day when you make a full withdrawal in His presence. Then, and only then, when He has your heart, follow your heart.