Stores of Treasures

Matthew 6: “19. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

If you are like me, you are constantly busy. The stuff that we spend our time on may not be anything bad in and of itself (i.e., we're not spending hours away from our family in bars or gambling our savings away), but we can't seem to find anytime in between work, chores around the house, our softball team, and the kids' activities. There simply doesn't seem to be margin for anything else. We get to the end of the week and wonder to ourselves what we have to show for all the effort that we spent throughout. Then on Sunday we go to church and hear of a family in need, but we tell ourselves that we don't have time to help, because we simply have too many things going on in our lives right now.

Oftentimes, when we read Matthew 6:19-21, we think about where our money is going. We may have heard it said that if you want to know where you heart is, look at your checkbook or bank statement. While this is true, it is missing a major element of our life's investment: our time. I have heard it said recently, and I think it is more accurate, that if we want to tell where we are storing up treasures, we need to look at our bank statement and our calendar.

If your struggle is that a sinful habit is taking up your time, you need to replace the time spent on that sinful habit with things that will build up treasures in Heaven. It isn't enough to simply stop the sinful habit, you change that habit by replacing it with something better - something that builds up the Kingdom of Heaven (see Matthew 12: 43-45). The same is true for sinful thoughts; however, with sinful thoughts the problem often occurs when someone has too much down time.

For others, we may not be struggling with sinful behaviors and thoughts per se, but our calendars are so full with other things, that we don't have time for anything else. In Exodus 20, the first two commandments given are very similar: you are not to have any other gods before God, and you should not make an idol. It is very easy to break these two commandments, as it is easy for something other than God to become a god to us. Work can become this idol, a hobby can become an idol, our kids' activities, our work around the house, TV, the internet, social life, etc. All of these can become places where we begin to store our treasures... places that while not strictly sinful in and of themselves can become sinful if we look to these places to meet a need that only God can meet.

The Tour is a big time and financial commitment. It takes time to train, it takes time to get sponsors, and it takes time to travel and ride on the Tour. Likewise, even if you have pledges to cover your Tour fees, obtaining and maintaining a bike is not inexpensive. What I love about the Tour, though, is that all the time training and riding on the Tour, and the finances needed to get there are being spent on Heavenly treasures. By being part of the Tour, either as a rider, support, or sponsor, you are storing treasures for yourself in Heaven, and are not only benefitting you, but are benefitting hundreds/thousands of kids who attend the camp every year.

In Him,

-Matt Robinson

Published 6/23/2022

PS: This year, these articles have been focused on different ways that the Tour strengthens our spiritual armor. If you’d like to get caught up, you can see all of these articles at the Chaplin’s Corner.

#TourdeTogo