Recently I posted a piece on inheritance.  Today my focus is on treasure.  First are five passages from the Old Testament:

"Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profit of silver, and her gain than fine gold.  She is more precious than rubies, and all things you may desire cannot compare with her" (Proverbs 3:13-15).

"Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death" (Proverbs 11:4; referring of course to eternity, the wrath of God, and the righteousness of Christ).

"Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with trouble" (Proverbs 15:16).

"I have not departed from the commandments of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12).

"Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure" (Isaiah 33:6; a promise yet to be realized).

Then seven selections from the New Testament:

"Do not lay up for yourself 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).

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44).

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure of his heart produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves moneybags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:32-34).

"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pieced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10; it is not money but the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil).

"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, not to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.  Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:17-19; this good foundation is not the same as the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the no other foundation to which Paul refers in 1 Corinthians 3:11).

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

And for believers this promise: "An 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" (1 Peter 1:4-5).

Quotes from books I've been reading so you have something to think about this week

"That for which she longs gradually becomes that to which she belongs" Dillow, CALM MY ANXIOUS HEART, page 88.

"Remember, if you're upset by what you don't have, you waste what you do have" Dillow, CALM MY ANXIOUS HEART, page 100.

"The pattern is this:  The Father genuinely cares about the daily needs of his children, and he is constantly caring for us, but he wants this to point us to something better.  If we don't find our life and strength in Jesus Christ, we will go from one worry to the next" Welch, RUNNING SCARED, page 131.

Inheritance
Perhaps like me you have been on both sides of inheritance, receiving it  and planning on leaving it.
What goes into inheritance?  Well, first of all there is the matter of having something to leave to someone.  I can want to give something special to someone, but unless I own it, I can't.
Then too there is the matter of a relationship.  I get messages from total strangers promising me a share of inheritance, if...  I disregard those and trash them.  When I learned of an inheritance from someone I knew, I followed through.  I didn't expect the gift, so that made it all the more significant.
Usually someone has to witness a will to make it valid--commonly two some ones--and then someone is named to execute the document.  But no one gets an inheritance unless the person who has willed it dies first.
What does God possess that He can will?  Eternal life.
What relationship is required to receive an inheritance from Him?  Adoption as sons and daughters.
Who has witnessed His will?  God the Son and God the Spirit.
Who executes it?  God the Spirit.
Whose death has made it valid?  God the Son.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to the kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.  In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:3-14).
However great their value may appear to be, inheritances in this life are nothing compared with this inheritance.
Peter wrote:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God and through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:3-5).

Last week was the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster; today is the eighth since Columbia; this is from my files regarding that event.
Columbia RIP February 1 2003
There was with the words a sense of deja vu not from the Challenger but
Nine-eleven first.
There was with the words unbelief because
They were so unemotional however rightly used;
Unbelief and shock and nothing else this day of news.
Who could any other news choose?
There was with the words the silence of grief
Followed and followed and followed by the same news
Damnable repetition of videotaped sights--solemn, silent, soundless.
-2-
How alarming must a word be to wallop me?
How much must hurt (or must much hurt)
To break the hardening of experiences past,
That sorrow breaks through at last?
-3-
Compassion--somehow compassion must be felt and extended
That this grief be mended,
Though there will be holes that cannot be patched
Doors no longer latched
Sorrow that cannot be matched;
Compassion--somehow compassion must be made real
Not merely sorrow's zeal--
And time that can some things heal
And others bring to starkness
In every morning's darkness;
Compassion--in deed not just word
That God's grace be heard
And hearts be changed
As He arranged
Before time took shape and earth and sky
He knew today these seven would die
He knew, He planned, all in His hand
And in His hand as well out days
All days
So in sorrow to Him bring praise.