Bird dogs and other treasures

Dec

17

2010

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Dec

17

2010

I know a man who is fabulously wealthy. I have encouraged him on more than one occasion to participate jointly with me in various projects that would glorify the Lord and in which he showed interest, not the least of which is developing the Honey Lake Christian Youth Center. He loves kids and this seems to be one of his passions, but alas he will not stop long enough to give it any of his attention. He tells me that he loves the Lord with all of his heart and I believe him, but so far anyway he just hasn’t been able to make time in his busy schedule to get around to investing any of his valuable time or money in any projects.

We have talked about the Lord and doing His work on more than one occasion. I get the impression that he wants to use his talents and resources to further the work of the Lord, SOMEDAY, but he always seems to indicate to me that NOW is not the right time. Like most successful people he’s always busy working some mega deal and it just seems to consume all of his time.

Jesus gave us a principle to mull over concerning this mindset. He referred to “Mammon” as being a “master”. This term is defined as a desire for material wealth and greed that was personified by a deity, or false God named Mammon. There is a real and present danger of us serving the wrong master.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Matthew 6:19

We are coming up on a new year. I hope we can all follow this sage advice. That next big deal and the hundreds of others just like it might provide a scorecard of how well we have done on this earth, but it will mean virtually nothing when we cross the threshold of this life and transition into the next. The only thing that will matter then will be what we have done for the Lord.

Lest you be smug and into the progressive movement of class warfare currently being espoused by the leaders of the day including President Obama, you should read this string of verses very carefully for it does not just apply to the rich and people like my friend. Jesus used the word “treasures” and not money. He could have just as easily used the term money, but instead used the term “treasures”. I believe this was deliberate. All of us have our treasures; I believe it is in our DNA. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

Selah Stop and rest for a moment and meditate on this – What is your treasure?

I know one guy whose treasure is winning field trials with bird dogs. He trains dogs every single day of the year in South Dakota in the summer, and then migrates to Florida in the winter. He doesn’t have any material wealth and indeed is homeless and lives in a camper, but he is VERY successful at training champion field trial bird dogs and has won top awards too numerous to detail here.

Those field trial trophies will not follow him into the hereafter, nor will the Rolex watches or private jet of my other friend. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven”, that was the advice of Jesus.

I know I am going to redouble my efforts this New Year to keep this concept foremost in my mind. I hope you will join me and make this year the one when you skip a few of those big deals and/or training dog days in order to accomplish something significant for the Lord – something that will endure forever

The Bible makes it clear that we will not live forever. Don’t put off your good works until it is too late. The Bible tells us that tomorrow may never come…

Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?



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