I read the other day about a Baltimore man named William
Stammer who kept $1,200.00 in an old pair of shoes so it would be safe from
burglars. And it was.
Unfortunately, it was not safe from Mr. Stammer. Without thinking, he threw his old shoes in the trash and did not realize his error until after the sanitation workers carried them away.
After a two-hour search through the contents of the city trash truck, Stammer located both his shoes and recovered the money.
The person who told that story asked, “When you need to recover your treasure, where will you have to go? To the garbage dump?”
The strange scenario of putting money in our shoes and then throwing them away isn’t likely to happen to many of us. But Jesus did caution us to be careful how we invest our resources. He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19 NIV).
In the first century, people didn’t have investment portfolios as they do today. So some people invested in fine clothes. However, silently, the moths went to work and destroyed the fine apparel.
Some people invested their resources in grain. Wait for a good price and then sell it, right? But while you are not looking, the vermin – mice, insects, worms – could get into the granary and do a lot of damage.
Others hid their money securely in a safe place in their homes. Or so they thought. But many homes in the first century were made of thin clay. While the homeowner enjoyed a meal at his neighbor’s house, a thief could easily chip through the flimsy wall and grab the treasure.
The fact is, you will leave everything you now have behind some day. So why not invest in things that are eternal? Enjoy this life but keep an eye on eternity. What are the things that never die? Invest in those things and keep your eyes on the Lord.
Source:
Unfortunately, it was not safe from Mr. Stammer. Without thinking, he threw his old shoes in the trash and did not realize his error until after the sanitation workers carried them away.
After a two-hour search through the contents of the city trash truck, Stammer located both his shoes and recovered the money.
The person who told that story asked, “When you need to recover your treasure, where will you have to go? To the garbage dump?”
The strange scenario of putting money in our shoes and then throwing them away isn’t likely to happen to many of us. But Jesus did caution us to be careful how we invest our resources. He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19 NIV).
In the first century, people didn’t have investment portfolios as they do today. So some people invested in fine clothes. However, silently, the moths went to work and destroyed the fine apparel.
Some people invested their resources in grain. Wait for a good price and then sell it, right? But while you are not looking, the vermin – mice, insects, worms – could get into the granary and do a lot of damage.
Others hid their money securely in a safe place in their homes. Or so they thought. But many homes in the first century were made of thin clay. While the homeowner enjoyed a meal at his neighbor’s house, a thief could easily chip through the flimsy wall and grab the treasure.
The fact is, you will leave everything you now have behind some day. So why not invest in things that are eternal? Enjoy this life but keep an eye on eternity. What are the things that never die? Invest in those things and keep your eyes on the Lord.
Source:
POSITIVE PERSPECTIVE
by Ron McClung
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