Buried Treasure and Capt. Jack Sparrow

After 10 hours, my garage is finally clean. Sort of. The better word may be organized. As I helped my parents rearrange everything, we ran across buried treasure - my favorite children's book, a Russian Bible I got on a mission trip to Ukraine, old vases, Disney puzzles. The list goes on. I relived my childhood during those dirty hours. My favorite discovery was the silly string. Of course, since it was old, it needed to be thrown away, but it is so wasteful to throw something away when it still has stuff in it. So, like any responsible adult, I decided to use the rest of the can on my parents, which they really appreciated.

But, as I sifted through my buried treasure, I was struck both by how blessed I am and how much I need to give away. When I moved back home over a year ago, I left a lot of my belongings in boxes, thinking I would move within a few months when I found a job. If you've been reading for a while, you know the Lord had drastically different, way more amazing plans for me. Since my first book is finished, I took the opportunity to clean out those boxes before beginning book 2. I determined that I would get rid of everything I hadn't missed or needed to use in the past year. I was also convicted by how attached I can become to "stuff," especially that which has sentimental value. Even if I no longer use it, I have difficulty throwing it away because of the memories associated with it.

Matthew 6:19-21 says, ""Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I'm thankful my memories aren't bound by that which is temporal. I'm thankful that my actions and my life can count for something more. And, I hope when I die and people go through "my things" that they aren't discussing the memories associated with the material goods but the memories we made doing things that actually mattered, things of eternal significance. I can't help thinking about Pirates of the Caribbean  and the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. When he is sent to the afterlife (which is really weird, by the way), no people are with him, only his ship and a box of what he treasured in his life. Captain Jack Sparrow was nothing without his ship and his treasure stored in that cave. Will my treasure be stored in eternal dwellings or man made inventions?


Where is your heart? What do you treasure?