Each year our neighbors go south to Arizona for the winter. They spend weeks packing their trailer with all they need for their trip. They also prepare their home for an extended absence. Part of that preparation is having neighbors check their house regularly and contact them if problems arise.
With all that they do to prepare for their yearly trip, time, chance and preparation is all they can rely on. How different it is for us brethren! When we make our annual trips to God’s Holy Feasts, we are promised protection of our physical possessions: “For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year” (Exodus 34:24).
God knows the intentions of our hearts and the draw we have towards our physical possessions. He gives us His word that we don’t have to worry about them. But this promise is not to gather more unto ourselves—quite the opposite! He wants us to forget about our physical riches and focus on treasure that doesn’t fade away—God, His Spirit, eternal life and our reward.
Christ warned His disciples that Christians could not serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). But in the same passage He also strengthened them saying, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26).
We must decide where we are truly putting our trust. No amount of insurance or the best planning can save what is really valuable. We must never let the weight of worrying about our physical valuables blind us to our greatest treasure—the Spirit of God. Dwelling on the passing treasures of the world is like relying on the teachers Peter warned us about: “These false teachers promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of immorality; whatever overpowers you, enslaves you” (2 Peter 2:19, Common English Bible). We are slaves to God, with everlasting life and our eternal reward within our grasp. Never let that treasure go.
