Worthless

My husband and I have been cleaning out our storage room. And it’s a BIG one! So there’s lots of stuff! Yesterday we ended up throwing away a whole box of cassettes. There were four different recordings that we did years ago. Unopened, packaged, nice cassettes. But who uses cassettes anymore? What we used to sell at concerts for $10, then $5, then gave away for free is now worthless. All of the music is available on my website and you don’t need a cassette player.

We threw away lots of other stuff, too. And we have lots of items going to the thrift store.  It’s part of our effort to sort through our “treasures” that we’ve hoarded over the years so that our children don’t have to do it later. Why did we keep all this stuff? It seemed valuable to us at one time. But now, nearing the end of our earthly life, we realize that it is worthless.

There are things, though, that are worth storing. Things that have eternal value. Jesus said, in His sermon on the mount:  “Don’t pile up treasures on earth, where moth and rust can spoil them and thieves can break in and steal. But keep your treasure in Heaven where there is neither moth nor rust to spoil it and nobody can break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, you may be certain that your heart will be there too!” (Matthew 6:19-21, J. B. Phillips).

So what do you treasure most? Job’s testimony was: “I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). In the words of the Psalmist: “I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure” (Psalm 119:162). And Jesus’ word to a wealthy young ruler was: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). 

Do you ever feel like what you are doing is worthless? It doesn’t have to be. But even  doing great things is worthless unless motivated by love. That’s what I Corinthians 13 is all about. I challenge you to read the whole thing, but here are some highlights. “If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have that absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, but have no love, I achieve precisely nothing” (I Corinthians 13:1-3, J. B. Phillips). 

So I ask again, “What do you treasure most?” God, His Word, His Love, His children? Or worthless things? Are you making eternal investments today?