Better treasure!

The Treasure above trinkets and treasures and troves of both...

Here in America, we are constantly told we aren't satisfied. There is so much calling to our eyes and hearts. We are bombarded with the idea that products will complete us or fulfill us.

Speaking of borrowing money, Plutarch makes a wise observation: "Swallows do not borrow, ants do not borrow, creatures upon which nature has bestowed neither hands, reason, nor art; but men, with their superior intellect..." (Morals, "That we Ought not Borrow")

© Evan Lipton

eBird S23230113

Macaulay Library ML 27961971

Swallows, you see, do not strive beyond what is before them. They have no thought of borrowing today against the earnings of tomorrow, or the years to follow. They labor in the day, as they must, but do not yield their peace for the trinkets of tomorrow. In their lack of intelligence, they seem to be arrayed in glorious contentment. To their credit, ants and swallows, sparrow and fawn, simply exist, labor, enjoy and live in beauty for the glory of God.

That we might learn the same! God made the swallow and the sparrow. By the course of logic, and may divine illumination increase our understanding: "What is the price of two sparrows--one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it." (Matthew 10:29 NLT) God cares for those swallows and sparrows, and even more for you and I.

Could it be we were meant to revel more in simplicity?
Could it be that God is our truest treasure?
Could it be that we are failing to enjoy Him?
Could it be we strive and ransom tomorrow's energies too often for today's toys?

If we, as Plutarch says, do indeed have "superior intellect", could it be possible that it employed out into the world at the expense of what we might gain if we were to look up to Him?

I think so.

May we -- may I -- come to joyfully realize what the True Treasure is.
May I be willing to let go of anything and everything that sparkles before my eyes and has even the most remote possibility of blinding me from seeing and enjoying what is most valuable.

Instead of buying the trinkets and toys, may I indeed rid myself of every portion of them that stops me from the True Treasure. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13:44 ESV)