Where is Your Treasure?

It is the week of Christmas and I'm finally ready for it! All the presents are wrapped and ready to go. Today I have to start on laundry so we can get packed for our trip to Graceville. We decided to take Abigail's gifts from us with us to open on Christmas morning. However, we won't be able to bring her "big" gift. I'm getting excited because Ryan is going to put it together Wednesday night or sometime Thursday and she is going to get it before we leave! I am so ready for her to see it. It's something I know she is going to love!

But there is something about gift-giving that I absolutely cannot stand. I despise competition when it comes to "out-doing" each other. I mean, I love a good friendly competition, in things like board games, sports, etc. I like to win. But the need to "win" when it comes to life, really gets on my last nerve. For someone like me, who has a healthy competitive streak, it can be hard at times, not to be drawn into it. There a people who are genuinely interested in what you "got" for Christmas or what you gave your children but there are other's who ask these kinds of questions just to gauge where they stand. Were they successful in "out-doing" you? How did they measure up? It's just completely irritating. I often wonder if these people are conscious of what they are doing. Or is it something they do subconsciously? Anyway, I have been drawn into this line of thinking and the need to compete on several occasions. But as soon as I realize what has happened, I quickly remember a passage of scripture, "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. It's not things that matter. Yes, they are nice to have. But they definitely aren't a measuring stick. Too often, "things" get in the way of our relationship with God. A few verses down, the Bible goes on to say that you cannot serve two masters. So this Christmas, we really need to find out who or what it is that we are serving. Are we laying up treasures on earth? Are we competing with our "neighbor"? Gifts are nice but what was the spirit behind the giving.

A friend of mine used to have a t-shirt that said, "He who dies with the most toys, still dies."

Where is your treasure?