A True and Timeless Treasure

 

I don't remember where it came from or how I acquired it, but it's mine and has been for nearly 30 years.  To the average onlooker, it must appear to be just a desk, a piece of well-constructed metal with a wooden seat and top.  To me, it is a treasure, a rare find, the holder of memories, an heirloom of sorts, as I had plans to pass it on to my children with the hopes that they would pass it on to theirs. 

One day last spring as I was cleaning and hastily trying to rid the house of extra stuff, the desk was banished to the back porch.  I had great intentions of moving it to an enclosed shelter, but life happened. Day after day, month after month, it sat on our back porch enduring moisture-filled Pacific Northwest weather.  As with all things left outside too long, it began to rot and ruin.  My desk, once beautiful and useful, sat covered with mold and moss, the wood cracked beyond repair, and the metal rusted.  This abandoned treasure... today, a heap of rubbish. 

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.  Matthew 6:19-21

Last year, my dear friend, Ms. Linda, went home to be with the Lord.  She was a godly woman whose life radiated her love and devotion to Jesus Christ.  Never married, she simply gave her heart to her one true love, the Lord. I miss her, and have longed to have something of hers - something she loved.  Something sentimental.  Something I could hold and cherish and keep forever. Something.

This afternoon, I talked with Ms. Linda's niece on the phone. She asked me to come see her because she had something she needed to give me.  I jumped in the car and drove to her work, curious about the something she might have.  We talked for a few minutes, reminiscing about Ms. Linda and her life. After a few moments of conversation, she withdrew something from a bag... a treasure... Ms. Linda's Bible.  

 

That moment, God gently spoke to me through his Holy Spirit.  He lovingly reminded me that the treasures of this earth will pass away, but the treasures of heaven will last forever.   I no longer have a pretty desk, but I do have God's Word...a true and timeless treasure. 

And He has my heart.