The Treasure of Significance

   The Scripture reading for this morning was from Mark 10:

   17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”


   I have always read this looking at the word treasure as money and wealth, because of the emphasis Jesus places on the status of this man who came to ask his question, but isn't my treasure anything that I put ahead of God Himself?


   As I woke up this morning, three things came to my mind: a word, a song and a question. As I thought about them and read the Gospel passage, I wondered how I could put these three together.


   The word was "significance". Could my own personal significance be my treasure, that which I can put ahead of God, even if it was some sort of service in His kingdom?


   The song went like this:


   Little is much if God is in it
   Labor not for wealth or fame
   There is a crown and you can win it
   If you go in Jesus' name


   Then came the question: Why did I do the things I did yesterday?


   The three things that came to my mind, those that comprised a part of my day were:


   1. A meeting of the elders at church where we discussed His work in our midst.


   2. Writing a blog post on my autistic grandson.


   3. Being with a friend who needed a hand.


  The first thing could be considered significant because there are only 7 elders on this board, and the things discussed and decided are "important" in God's work. The second can be considered this way because people might read the blog and realize the challenges and successes of  a person with this condition. The third was, well, it was.


   Little is much if God is in it

   Labor not for wealth or fame

   There is a crown, and you can win it

   If you go in Jesus' name

   I want my "significance treasure" to be in heaven where it belongs, not down here in the eyes of men.

PS: This song sung by Larry Ford: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsXFigFulJs