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The theme of our CCCC annual meeting this year was "completing the works" God has prepared for us to do. I've been reflecting on the correlation between our success in completing the works God has prepared for us to do and the degree to which WE are treasuring most what matters most to Him. Surely God wants us to be about His priorities! When we treasure most things that will soon pass away how could we expect to "complete the works" He has prepared for us to do? But if we treasure most what He treasures most, we can go wherever He sends us, bearing His authority and anointing.
The Bible has a lot to say about treasuring most what matters most. Here are a few verses on this theme that I have been pondering:
II Corinthians 4:7 - Paul (concerning the gospel of Jesus): "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
Deuteronomy 7:6 - Moses (speaking of what is God's treasured possession): "For you are a people Holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasure..."
Matthew 6:19-21 - Jesus (in the Sermon on the Mount) "Do NOT store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also." "
Heb 11:26 - (Concerning Moses' faith): "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward."
Some time ago I read about a man in a small community who did not believe in banks. Word of this got around and one day he was robbed. The culprit was caught and put on trial. The defense attorney tried to prove that the robbery was a hoax, a scheme by the purported victim of the robbery to avoid taxes. He put this man on the witness stand and said, "Are you telling this court that you had $5,000 of your own money in cash at home?" The witness replied, "No, I didn't say that at all! None of that money was mine. It belonged to God. He was only letting me use it for a little while." Later when asked why he said that he replied that he HAD to say it because he was under oath!
The point is well taken. We do not actually "possess" anything on this earth. We know that all we have belongs to God! Our time, talents, bodies, gifts and abilities, our resources all belong to Him! We are privileged to take care of it for Him, for a little while. But by faith we do possess the priceless treasures of knowing God through our Lord Jesus Christ, including all the treasures that are laid up for us in Heaven.
To the extent that we treasure most what matters most to God, we can complete the works God has prepared for us to do!
Steve Gammon,
CCCC Conference Minister |
