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

In this passage, Jesus doesn’t define treasure in any particular way, but He surely means that which someone prizes most and above all else. The things that we value above all else tell us something about ourselves; the things we treasure reveal what we value most deep down.*

We will sacrifice anything to keep the thing that we value the most. Do you value your job more than anything else? What are you sacrificing for your job? Do you value your comfort the most? What are you sacrificing for your comfort? Do you value your safety the most? What are you sacrificing for safety?

None of these things are bad, and all have some value, but the thing we value most must be God. Jesus does not invite us into partial following, or part-time apprenticeship to Him. We must treasure Him above it all!

When we value Him above all else in the deepest part of our being, it says something about us.

I spent much of my life valuing more than anything else the call of God on my life and what I believed it could bring me in the way of recognition, acceptance, and value. Because I valued the call on my life above all else, I sacrificed everything for it. The problem with this is that my call had no life. My call was like a mission that enslaved me. It had no being. It had nothing to say. I just kept sacrificing and sacrificing for my silent taskmaster, but ended up empty.

Jesus is a being. To sacrifice all to Him is to listen to His voice and to obey what He tells you to lay down. His voice is caring. His call for sacrifice is intentional. His ways are for us and others.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remove the value you’ve placed on something that supersedes Him in your heart. Perhaps God wants you to repent today for setting something else on the altar of your heart. Maybe today God wants to show you what He can do when He is in charge of your life. Perhaps God is asking you to sacrifice something or to make Him your treasure.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 151-156, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 6:19-24) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).