[Jesus said,] “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.â€Â            Matthew 6:19-21 (WEB)
On May 22, 1979 my heart was forever changed in a mere 24 hours. I started the morning no different than the day before or the day before that. I was pregnant. I knew that the baby was coming soon, (Thank the LORD!) but the exact date was a little “iffy†as all the measurements weren’t adding up like they were supposed to. The baby by ultrasound looked like it was on time for the next week or so but my belly was huge for such a small infant.
Four years before, prior to my marriage, I was pregnant. I had an abortion. The reasons that I made that decision seemed to make it the only decision. Throughout this second pregnancy I was tormented by thoughts that I the child I carried would be harmed in some way as punishment for my sin.
By evening, I was in labor. The next morning, my daughter was born. But God wasn’t done. Despite three ultrasounds during the pregnancy, God had another surprise. Two minutes after I had a daughter, I had a son. Twins!
Jesus speaks to me in this passage about the accumulation of treasure. But he makes it clear that He is not speaking about gold, iPads, cars, houses, boats, or shoes. He is speaking about treasure that will not decay. The treasure that Jesus points me to deposit into my life is not tangible with my hands or my eyes but I can see it with my heart, my spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14).
On that day in May, I received such an extravagant gift of love and forgiveness from God. I didn’t deserve it. I had done anything except cry “I’m sorry†in my heart. God knew that. He responded with a tangible expression of an intangible treasure. He gave me twice what I had so carelessly discarded. And He didn’t stop there. He began a healing in my heart that has brought me to where He and I are today – in an intimate relationship that is a treasure beyond price!
Janet and John are grown now with children of their own. I have told them the story of their birth many times and have always attempted to express to them the treasure from God that they are. I believe that as they have held their own newborns, they now understand.
My children are in my care for only a short time in the expanse of eternity. When they committed their lives to Jesus, accepting Him as Savior, they became a part of the treasure that Jesus told me that God desires for me. They will tell their children. And I pray that we will all be together for eternity with Jesus. That is a legacy of real treasure.
