The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

(Matthew 6:21 NIV)

The story is told of an American tourist who visited the 19th-century Polish rabbi, Hofetz Chaim. The traveler was astonished to discover that the esteemed rabbi lived in a simple room filled lined with books, furnished only with a table and a bench. Surprised, he asked, “Rabbi, where is your furniture?”

“Where is yours?” the rabbi gently replied. 

“Mine?  I’m only a visitor here. I’m just passing through.”

“So am I,” said Hofetz Chaim.

What a profound reminder. We sometimes sing, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through,” but do we really live with that perspective?  When my wife and I leave town for a one-week trip, we pack only a couple of suitcases. We take clothing, toiletries, and a few necessary items, but we don’t bring our furniture, our appliances, or the lawn mower. We understand the difference between staying somewhere temporarily and establishing a permanent residence.

Yet the way many people live suggests confusion about that difference. We accumulate possessions as though this world is our final destination. We cling to things as if they will last forever, and we organize much of our lives around what is temporary and passing away.

The patriarchs of old didn’t make that mistake. Hebrews 11:13 says that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (NIV) They held this world loosely because their faith helped them see beyond tents and land to something eternal.

Jesus echoed that same perspective when he warned us, “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or — worse! — stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven… The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” (Matthew 6:19–21, The Message).

Read verse 21 again slowly: “The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” (Matthew 6:21 NIV). What do your priorities, purchases, and pursuits say about where you believe your real home is?  Are you living like a pilgrim passing through — or like someone who has settled in permanently?

Prayer: Father, teach us to hold lightly the things of this world and to hold tightly to you.  Help us live as pilgrims who long for our true home with you. Shape our hearts so that our treasure is firmly set in heaven. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day