“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:21 has great meaning for me, but it has been haunting me lately.
I fully understand that whatever we treasure is what holds our hearts, but what is the ‘treasure’ that this verse refers to?
The treasures in my life will be different from yours, but we all have them.
Often it is said that if we look to where we spend our money, we will see where our priorities, our treasure, is located. Our spending is so darn … clean these days. We do not give to the church from what is in our pockets (perhaps because there is nothing in our pockets), we place a written (post-dated) cheque or it is automatically withdrawn. We do not give to the poor, a representative send us information on how they help the poor, and request that we ‘support’ them in their meeting of the needs of those with less. We do not give gifts that bless individuals with love and appreciation, we hand over a plastic card, so that they might purchase whatever their hearts desire (I am not saying that I do not like gift cards, in case anyone thinks differently … after all my birthday is coming … but, I digress).
I think though, that I have been haunted by this verse lately, not in the context of my money being my treasure, but my time.
I made a conscious effort to note how I spent my time on a recent Saturday.
- 6:30-9:30am – writing and researching (with a little laundry thrown in there)
- 9:30-10:30am – tidying, making a ‘to do’ list
- 10:30-11:00am – ablutions (one needs to be clean)
- 11:00-12:00 – errands
- 12:00-1:00pm – taxiing kids and friends
- 1:00-4:00pm – thrift store shopping with daughter and her friend
- 4:00-5:00pm – more taxiing of kid and friend
- 5:00-7:30pm – baking
- 7:30-8:00pm – dinner with hubby and son
- 8:00-9:30pm – making frame for bathroom mirror
- 9:30-10:00pm – writing blog post for next day
- 10:00-12:00 – chatting with hubby, playing mindless game to prepare me for sleep
- 12:00 – lights out
And that was my day!
Now in there were a few short conversations with my other kids, texting with friends, and bathroom breaks as well.
This day was a good one, in my economy of time, as I got to invest in one child significantly, and accomplished both things that needed to be done as well as things I wanted to do, for my own well being.
But, what it reminded me, is that choosing how to spend my time means making intentional decisions to prioritize well. Had I not intentionally offered my time to my daughter and her friend, I would have chosen to spend my time more self-focused!
I ALWAYS choose to spend my time self-focused!
The only way to change that is to be intentional about how I spend my time.
I need to plan.
I need to think ahead.
I need to meet the needs of my loved ones by giving my time to them, in ways that they desire, not necessarily the ways I desire.
If I am to say, with any measure of authenticity, that my family is my treasure, then I need to choose wisely how I spend my time.
I challenge you to record how you spend your time today, or, better yet, yesterday when you didn’t have this to remind you of your treasure.
Just sayin’.
itsawonderfilledlife 