LightGrams
November 10, 2022
Volume 26, Number 34
At a garage sale you purchase an old purse that caught your attention. As you examine it later you discover a baseball card tucked away inside. Further investigation reveals that this card, which is in near-mint condition, could be worth a great deal. So what do you do with this card? Do you hide it in a drawer? Where can you keep it to prevent damage or theft?
For such items there is a place in Delaware operated by Collectors, a business that specializes in valuable items of all sorts. This facility, surrounded by razor wire and armed guards, houses items like a vintage Honus Wagner card which recently sold for over $7 million, and a pair of athletic shoes worn and signed by the late Koby Bryant, now an NBA legend. In all, items worth more than $200 million are stored in two vaults inside this brick building. It’s like a miniature Fort Knox.
Secure? The building is equipped with seismic motion detectors, in case someone should try to hammer through the walls. The vaults are sealed with 7,500-pound doors that are more than a foot thick. Surveillance cameras are everywhere and are closely monitored 24 hours each day. If you’re looking for secure storage, this is the place. (You’ll likely pay a hefty price for the storage, too!)
As impressive as that may sound, I can top it. Jesus spoke about higher security when He gave the Sermon on the Mount: “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).
“Where your treasure is” is the key phrase, and it should cause each of us to reflect on what it is that we value most in life. If we’re like most people, we value material things above all else.
The problem with that treasure is the transient nature of material things. In Luke 12 Jesus told about a farmer who enjoyed an exceptionally good crop. The crops were harvested and securely stored, but one variable was forgotten: the man’s mortality. “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided” (Luke 12:20).
Where can we safely store our physical health or life? We can go to great lengths to keep our health in peak condition, but nothing is certain in this realm. Life can throw medical curveballs at us without warning.
1 Peter 1:4,5 speaks of the pinnacle in guarded treasures. Peter wrote about the Christian’s inheritance, “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” That security is far beyond anything available on earth.
Earthly treasures ultimately disappoint. It’s time to accept Jesus’ offer in John 10:10: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
~~~~~
Copyright, 2022, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “[email protected]” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
Permission to reproduce and/or use the messages for noncommercial purposes is freely granted provided the messages are not altered.