February 11, 2021
Do not lay up for yourselves 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
I was 19 years old, it was my sister’s wedding day, and the whole family was getting dressed and ready. My mother asked me to run upstairs and get her treasured floating opal earrings and necklace, a gift from my dad many years before. I retrieved them and started back downstairs to give them to her when, to my horror, one of the earrings dropped and broke! I feared the worst, but my mother’s response was, “It’s just a thing!” I couldn’t believe my ears because I knew how much she loved those earrings. But my mother has always been a faith-filled, grace-filled woman and she was living that out on that day, and I have never forgotten it. Even though she treasured that gift from my dad, she never put things before relationships and demonstrated to me what God’s Word teaches in Matthew. My mother is now 93 years old and still has a child-like faith, with her focus always on Jesus.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the example my mother is to me. I pray that I will always keep my focus on laying up treasures in heaven and living for You alone, not for things of this earth.
Nancy Gerardo