I had always admired a vase that my parents owned, a beautiful Delft vase with storks, beaks uplifted, encircling its textured surface, different from the usual blue-and-white Delftware. As he went through our mother’s things after her death, my brother chose to keep the vase. Later, I found out its true significance. During the persecution of Jewish people in prewar Czechoslovakia, people left their treasures with friends and neighbours, and either emigrated or went into hiding. The assumption was that someday they would return to their own country and to normal life, and reclaim their special possessions.

My grandparents had a couple of these items that their Jewish friends or neighbours had left with them for safekeeping. One was an elaborate garnet necklace, and another was the Stork Vase. The Jewish owners never returned.

My brother decided that the Stork Vase should be donated to a Jewish museum in a recently renovated synagogue that had remained intact throughout the war in a small town near my grandparents’ home. He made a trip to the Czech Republic and brought the vase to the museum. When my husband and I visited there last year, I was happy to admire the Stork Vase once again, but sobered by its significance — a reminder of a difficult time in history.

King Solomon’s temple in the Old testament would certainly have been something to admire. He had placed vast quantities of gold and other valuable treasures into this first temple in Jerusalem. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah, he “carried away all the treasures from the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He stripped away all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the temple.” (2 Kings 24:13 NLT) It seemed as though these treasures were gone forever.

Just as my brother returned the Stork Vase to an appropriate setting, the temple treasures were eventually returned. After 70 years in exile, those from Judah who had been taken captive returned to their homeland. King Cyrus of Persia, who had overthrown Babylon, returned the treasures that had been taken years before—gold and silver bowls, incense burners, and other items (see Ezra 1:7-10 NLT)

Did you know that we are God’s treasures? Deuteronomy 7:6 says “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.” (NLT) God was speaking in this verse to the nation of Israel, but He is speaking to us as believers today as well.

When He first made a covenant with Israel He said, “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.” (Exodus 19:5 NLT) We can be sure God will look after as we would look after a priceless treasure. Being God’s treasure, however, comes with conditions. On our part, we need to maintain our relationship with Him, obeying and serving Him. Then we can reflect His goodness and glory for others to notice and esteem, so they can ultimately come to know Him as well.

Thank you, Lord, that we have the privilege of being called Your treasure. May we take our role seriously for the benefit of others. Amen.

Alice Burnett
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada