Your Treasures: Icing or Cake?

 
In the Parable of the Four Soils, Jesus warns us about our hidden treasures that will choke out any chance of us living fruitful lives:

“… but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” —Mark 4:17

Our Chokers: 1. Life’s worries  –  2. The deceitfulness of wealth, riches and pleasures –  3. The desires for other things.

So, how to know your hidden treasures?  Ask yourself what is choking you.

Let’s start with Life’s Worries:

1. Life’s worries: What do you worry about? Your treasures can be easily identified by the degree of worry and anxiety you feel when they are threatened. Ponder that for a moment. I would not want to lose my bike, but I do not worry about it. But my home … What others think … My children’s success … My 401K … My so very comfortable life?

We worry about our treasures … our idols, because we treasure them far too much. And we worry because we just do not believe Jesus when he said there is no need to worry  – about anything. Therefore we operate with the mentality of, “If I don’t, it won’t …” or, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”

There is no joy and peace and harmony in that.

2. The deceitfulness of wealth, riches and pleasures:

I like these things. I really do. I like more of them than less. But are they the icing or the cake in my life? If these things are the cake, i.e. what I treasure the most, then I will be,

… tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.—Eph. 4:14

Or I will behave frantically, like pagans, who do not know God as their Heavenly Father: 

“For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” —Matt. 6:32

But if they are just the icing, and Jesus is the cake – my rock-solid foundation – then I will be able to live a life of balance and harmony, despite my circumstances. Whether the icing is rich and creamy and piled on top, or thin and tasteless at the moment, I will look like this:

A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.¹ 

After Jesus tells us not to worry about our treasures, he makes a statement that none of us actually believes, therefore we keep holding onto our worldly treasures:

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31)

May you see your choking treasures for what they are, and choke them out of your life, to make room for the rich and creamy cake of Jesus as your Lord, and your best friend.

1. Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest – August 5

Next Week:  3. “The desire for other things.”