Today on bold steps, Mark Joe begins a message about the treasures of your heart.
So many of us are living our lives with our treasures in the wrong place. We need to redefine what our treasure is so that our heart can follow our treasures. And many of us, our heart is in the wrong place. And if your heart is in the wrong place, you're living the wrong way for the wrong things, with the wrong priorities, and ultimately wasting your life.
Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd and Mark. I like this illustration of a backpack when it comes to what we're carrying around in life. Today, you're going to challenge us to open up that life pack and see if what we're lugging around is really worth it, or if there are things in there that God would like us to replace. Huh?
Yeah, And I tell an illustration at the beginning of this message of my little grandson, my firstborn grandson. His name is Finn, and he he doesn't anymore. But when he was young, he had a little backpack and everything special to him. Little rocks and little figurines he'd put. And he did not want to take that backpack off when he got in his car seat. I think he wanted to keep it on when he took a back a bath, because it was his little treasure trove. Love it.
And you may not have a backpack, a physical one, but you do have treasures and our heart is close to our treasure. And that's really the point here where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. That's what it tells us in Matthew chapter six. So we're going to unpack that and see what God says to us today.
All right. Let's get into this message. The Treasure Principles on Bold steps with Mark job.
A few years ago, I entered into a whole new phase of life. Oh, I would highly suggest it. I became a grandfather. You know, I realized I'm the typical grandfather now. I've become that typical grandfather. When someone is talking and they say, do you have grandkids? I say, oh, yeah, you want to see pictures? Uh, you know, it's just I don't know. And of course, you show them the pictures and they're like, oh, they're cute. What are they going to say? You're the grandfather. They have to say
they're cute, right? And they call me Papa. Except for Josiah's little son, Saint. For some reason, he's gone to calling me Papa. So that's my new name, Papa. But my oldest grandson. I noticed this about a year ago. And his mother, my daughter told me he has this unique habit of carrying a backpack around with him wherever he goes. Wherever he goes, he has this little backpack. Well, I should say little. It seems like it's almost as big as he is, but he carries it around with
him and he doesn't want to take it off. He guards it. He. When they want to put him in his car seat, they got to struggle with him because he doesn't want to take it off. He's always aware of where where it's at. And I'm like, hey, Finn, why is it what's in that backpack? And he'll say, okay, Papa, I'll show you. And so he has an assortment of little things he's picked up, from rocks to shiny things to, I don't know what else in there, just little random
pieces that he thinks are valuable. And so he puts it in his backpack and he carries it around. Now he he really treasures that he really holds to it. I'm convinced that when he's 30 years old. And I were to take that backpack and show that little colorful backpack to him. He would look at it and say, what is this junk? Because you see, as we grow, as we mature that which we value, at one stage, we may not value in our maturity. I'm talking to you,
some of you here today. I believe that some of us are still in a immature stage in our spiritual walk in terms of what we treasure and what we value. And today, I want to talk to you about the words of Jesus, specifically about where is our treasure? Where is our heart? What do you value? And I'm convinced that some of you, a year from now, may look at your proverbial backpack that you have today and look at it and say, what was I thinking? That was
just junk. I've exchanged it for stuff that's much, much more valuable. So I want you to take your Bibles, and I want you to turn to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. We're going to be looking at verses 19 through 24 of Matthew chapter six. This is in the context of the sermon on the Mount. Jesus message his most iconic, powerful, legendary message. We call it the sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is explaining to his disciples,
really the culture of the kingdom. And at the beginning of this passage, his disciples say, we want to learn how to pray like your disciples pray. And Jesus teaches them a prayer that many of us. If you grew up in religious, Christian religious circles, you've probably repeated many times. We call it the Our Father. And it starts out by saying, Our Father who art in heaven, Then hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven. Jesus taught him this prayer, but then he goes on and he explains to them this powerful principle about treasures and heart. And I'm going to read to you beginning in verse 19, it says, do not. This is Jesus speaking. 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. Listen. Here it goes. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let me repeat that last phrase. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I want to introduce you to three treasure principles that I see in this passage. Number one, you can write this down. Treasure. Principle number one. Your heart will always be close to where your treasure is at. Show me what you value and that's where your heart is at. Show me what's important to you. And your
heart is going to be close. Your affection, your emotions, your interest will lie very close to where your treasure is at. If I want to know what's important to someone, it's not always what they say with their lips, but it's what they talk about. Think about what they get emotional about. What that Indicates where their heart is at. And Jesus was saying this. In essence, what Jesus was telling us is that most of us here on earth, we tend to make our make our treasure things that
we can physically touch and see. And Jesus is saying, many of you are putting your treasure in the wrong place, because your treasure needs to be placed in something that is not just temporary, but eternal. In fact, he describes, um, what people put their treasure in. He says, do not lay up your treasure. Don't make your treasure that that which moths and rust destroy. And thieves break in. Back in the days of Jesus, the wealthy people. Their garments,
their robes were one of their treasures. And he said, moths can eat that. I don't know, I remember going to my grandmother's house and opening her closet and I said, grandma, what's that smell? And she said, it's mothballs. Anybody grow up smelling mothballs? I don't know where all the moths has gone, but I don't. I don't think moths are a thing anymore. If I asked my kids, do you
know what a moth is? They probably say no. But I guess back in the day, moths would get into closets and they would eat your clothes and you would have holes in them, I don't know. The moths disappeared. We don't do that anymore. I don't know. But basically, moths eat clothes. And so back in the day, if moths got in your clothes, they would destroy your clothes. A lot of the Jewish people in the day are back in the days of Jesus. They. They didn't have, uh,
bank accounts or cryptocurrency. They had, uh, silver and gold and jewelry, and that's what they valued. And Jesus says that kind of treasure rusts with time. If it gets wet and moist and not in the right conditions, it'll rust. And he also says, you know, there is the threat of someone stealing what you have so you can what you have could be stolen. That that's all temporary treasures. And Jesus is saying, I'm challenging you to make sure that you lay treasures in a place where moth or
rust or thieves cannot touch. In other words, I want you to start thinking more eternal than temporal. Do you realize that most of us here, we probably don't put a lot of thought into what happens after we die? In fact, some people think, well, pastor, that's morbid. No, it's only morbid if you are obsessed with the death part, but don't understand what happens after we die. I was interested in discovering what most people think about life after
death here in America. And, uh, Pew Foundation did some research not too long ago about life after death. And here's what they discovered that 75% of adults believe in some kind of heaven. They believe that there is some sort of Paradise after we die. Some place of no suffering, some place of no tears, no pain, some utopia of some sort. It may not be a biblically defined heaven,
but they believe in that 75% of people. Interestingly enough, that 37% of people that are not religiously affiliated also believe in heaven. 17% of adults in America do not believe in any life after death. In other words, they believe that once you die, it's over. You're like an animal. You're done buried. Life is over. The only existence that you have is the years that you have on earth. And you say, well, pastor, how many years do we have on earth? Well, the average American lives to be about.
The average American male is 73 lives to be 73 years old. The average American woman lives to be 79. Come on, let's hear it. For the women, they live longer. I'm not sure what that tells us, but. Nonetheless, let me say this. The great majority of us, I believe we live primarily conscious of what we can touch and feel, the here and the now. And what Jesus is saying is that you need to live with a with a bigger mindset.
This is bold steps with Mark job. And before we continue examining what we truly treasure, I want to make sure you know that you can revisit any of these daily messages by going to our website, npr.org. Speaking of ways to stay connected with these Bible teachings. Have you tried our Bold Steps podcast yet? Whether you're out for a walk or driving to work, you can take these messages with you anywhere. Just search for bold steps with
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your faith journey outside of the radio program. Now let's return to Mark's message about evaluating what treasures were investing in, both here and in eternity.
The Bible talks in first Thessalonians that we are body, soul, and spirit. Some people call it the trichotomy of man. Your body is that which you you know. it's the physical part of you. It sounds like at 73, we start to wear out. How many of you are already feeling the wearing out? Boy, I don't know. Some of you. Just to get up in the morning, there's grunts and groans and, ah, you know, sounds like you just run a marathon. You're just getting out of bed. Um, because
your body is not meant to last forever. Your body has an expiration date. And the moment that your body dies, your heart stops beating. Your brainwaves stop functioning. Your body is done. It goes to the grave, but your soul and your spirit do not have an expiration date. In fact, your soul. The Bible talks about the soul of man and woman and your soul. Is that unique part of you that, uh non-tangible invisible part of you that we that makes up who you are? It's your personality. It's
your mind, your intellect, your volition. It's who makes you. You. The Bible says that that does not have an expiration date when you die. Listen to me. When you die, when your body dies, your soul continues to exist. That's not only taught in the Bible, but you will find even a lot of other scientific, um, studies that have indicated that when people die, their heart stops, yet they have this consciousness of seeing their body still on the
bed there. And they have these experiences that scientists and doctors can't explain because there's an awareness, a consciousness, even after their body has died, of what was happening in the room. Because your body, your soul, it doesn't pass away when your body passes away. But then you also have a spirit. Every person is born with a spirit. You are a spirit being. Uh, when you are born, the spirit part of you is the part that interacts with the spiritual world. So you have a body, you
have a soul, and you have a spirit. Now don't confuse that with the Holy Spirit because you are a spiritual being. But the Holy Spirit, which is a third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. When you become a believer, he quickens or makes your spirit alive, and suddenly you are conscious of the spiritual world. God speaks to you in powerful ways. The Word of God comes to life. You're convicted. You're led, you're prompted. You're helped.
You're empowered through the Holy Spirit. Amen. So body, soul, and spirit, your body passes away. And what Jesus is saying to us, listen to me. This is important. What Jesus is saying to us is most of us live valuing a very temporary treasure when our treasure needs to be more eternal. And what Jesus is saying is that most of us, our heart is fixed on the here and the now. um, he tells us where your treasure is. There your heart will be also. Listen to me. Your
heart follows your treasure. So look for what you value the most. And you will find where your heart is at. And when you find where your heart is at. You will also find the greatest influence on your life. Many of us get deluded into thinking that what other people value, the material world that we live in, that that is the most important thing, and our heart is close to that. And we live very shallow, superficial lives because our values are placed on things that are temporary. Can I tell
you something? I mean, that scratch that you got in that newer car that you have that almost sent you to therapy. You just couldn't get over talking about it for weeks on a time, and you were angry and upset about it. Can I tell you something? When you are on your deathbed, you are not going to have one thought about that scratch on your car. Can I tell you something else? When you're on the other side of life, that is going to seem like some of
the little items in Finn's backpack. You're going to look and say, that was so dumb. Why did I care so much about that? And so what Jesus is reminding us of is he's telling us, listen, so many of us are living our lives with our treasures in the wrong place. We need to redefine what our treasure is so that our heart can follow our treasures. And many
of us, our heart is in the wrong place. And if your heart is in the wrong place, you're living the wrong way for the wrong things, with the wrong priorities, and ultimately wasting your life. Number two, not only your heart will always be close to where your treasure is at. But secondly, the second treasure principle is this the way the lens through which you view life will determine how you live life. Notice what Jesus tells us in verse 22.
It's in the context of our priorities, our treasures, our heart. He says this the eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? He uses a physical illustration to represent a spiritual truth. He says if you're blind and can't see, then your body is full of darkness. Through your eyes you see light.
And when you see light, You know where you're going. Your body's full of light. You have direction. You have purpose. But if your eyes are not open, then your entire being will be full of darkness. What is Jesus saying? I believe that Jesus is talking about how we see the world and clarity of vision. Clarity of vision. Many people don't see clearly the purpose and the priorities in their life. And when you don't see clearly the purpose and priorities of your life, you start to live the
wrong way. You will always make mistakes and wrong turns if you cannot see clearly where you're going spiritually in life. Listen, some of you right now have made a virtual mess of your life your marriage, your family, your relationships, your priorities, your finances, your emotions, your mind. Why? You've made a mess because there's been a lack of clarity. You have not seen things clearly, spiritually speaking, in your life. And when there's a lack of clarity, you make a lot
of mistakes. Recently, I was driving down I-55, and I don't know if anybody else got caught up in this, but as I was driving, they had predicted a storm. The sky got dark, the clouds rolled in, and then suddenly, at first very lightly, but then I got pelted with huge hailstones. Was anybody else in that? The point was, I couldn't see clearly because of the, uh, because of the hail, because of the darkness that was there. When you can't see clearly, you end up in accidents. And
there are multiple accidents that happened because of lack of clarity. Listen, what second Corinthians chapter four, verse 18 says, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe and today's message, titled The Treasure Principles, is just getting started, so be sure to join us tomorrow when we continue this fundamental lesson. And of course, if you ever missed one of these messages, be sure to catch up online by going to Bold steps.org. Mark, we are pleased to have doctor Heather Holloman with us briefly on the program here today to talk about her book, The Six Conversations. This is a very timely book, isn't it?
I think it's very timely. You know, it seems like a lot of the conversations that should be happening are more shouting at each other or angry conversations or stereotyping people. And so it seems more and more difficult to have conversations with people that maybe have other ideologies.
So, Heather, help us out here. How can how can you advise us?
Well, I learned from the research what it means to believe the best about people. And it's profoundly biblical right out of Romans 12 and Philippians two. What would life look like if you began to honor one another, to value others above yourself, and to bless those who persecute you and love your enemies? It's a countercultural way to live. And when you believe the best about people, you're seeking
to learn from them. So my neighbors that believe different things politically or socially, instead of arguing with them, I say, I can tell you really care so passionately about this issue. I'd love to hear the story of when you first started believing these things. Now we're having a warm connection, and I can share things that I'm learning from the Bible or anything important about my life.
So your goal here is to help us get deeply into other people's lives and share things with them spiritually.
Yes. And you can have those warm connections that really were designed for the research is clear. People are suffering because of loneliness and disconnection. So this book is really an intervention in a health crisis that we're also seeing across the nation.
I love it. One of the greatest challenges that we live is isolation, lack of connection. And so whether this is at church with other believers, or whether this is with a neighbor that maybe does not share your faith or politically is at odds with you. This is a great book. The Six Conversations by doctor Heather Holloman. Look forward to getting this book into so many people's hands.
Heather, thanks for your partnership.
Thank you.
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