Kids See the Treasure

It dawned on me the other day that my kids probably think my treasure is different than my actual treasure.

Of course I’ll explain.

The Bible cautions us to not store up treasures on earth. Moth, rust, and thieves are the reason. Here is the passage:

Matthew 6:19–21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I think moths were a plague back in Biblical times. Same with rust; people living in Biblical time periods had to deal with the Romans salting the roads and the snow eating away their chariots. . . Um, well, I think these cautions need to be updated to our time period. Instead of “moths” I would say ‘teenagers’ because they are comparable to moths in regard to nice clothes. Seriously, back in the ‘old days’ moths were hard on nice clothes that were stored. They’d eat the threads, so that the nice clothes would turn out holy — and not in the spiritual way. Teenagers don’t eat clothes, but they are definitely hard on clothes. I have teens now and they do several things that are moth-like-hard on clothes.

• They wash them wrong — pink socks anyone?
• They store them poorly — when they fall off the hanger, they stay fallen in the back of the closet
• They-wear-them-to-ride-their-bike-then-decide-that-they-are-hot-and-tie-their-nice-shirt-to-the-back-of-their-bike-where-it-invariably-gets-caught-in-their-bike-tire.

So, moths.

Rust is easily updated to “clutter.” Things that sat around in Biblical times were subject to the elements in one form or another. We have garages now, and storage sheds, and basements, attics, closets, etc. The treasures that we store in current times just sit there preserved. And they sit there. And sit there. They might as well have rusted to non-use because they are being non-used. Clutter can destroy a ‘treasure.’

The last thing the Bible mentions that destroys treasure is thieves. Thieves are pretty much timeless. Not too long ago the lottery went to a HUGE amount and people in Florida were talking about what they would do if they won the jackpot. After participating in several conversations about this topic, my wife and I started privately talking.

Wife: I’m not sure about that amount of money. I’d be scared to win. People would hurt you or even kill you for that amount of money.

Me: I don’t care. I’m willing to try. We’ll hire the Rock as a bodyguard with that amount of money.

[We didn’t win.]

After Jesus cautions us to not trust in treasures of earth, He instructs us on what is the best way to accumulate treasure:

“So store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

They key part of this as a dad, is the ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ because I read that and I know that the Bible also says:

23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)

Ergo:
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be
+ everything you do flows from your heart
= your life will be where your treasure is.

The theological ramifications of this are huge. Like Donald Trump saying the word “huge” level of huge. If you want to plunge into that theological well, drop me an email or post a comment, but today I want to focus on the basics of these verses for being a dad. Because I realized the other day that sometimes I don’t do this very well with my kids.

My kids look at my wife and I, and they hear us talk about money, and caution them about money, and discuss the future related to money. They see me stress about money and express hopeless exasperation when we don’t have it. They make comparisons of experiencing the fun of their friends with money, and the depression of their parents without money. So to them, our treasure, our heart, our wellspring of life . . . is in money.
There are two parts of my response to this. One is that my wife and I really should stop putting such a heart-focus on money. No excuse there; I was convicted.

The other part though, is grounded in the faithful reality that sometimes money is pretty tight for the Washburns. The kids don’t get to see the times that my wife and I pray together and are petitioning and trusting God to please: make. a. way. They don’t get to see the times that I come to the internal determination that the path is forked and; either God is real and present . . . or He’s not. And since He is, I take the path of pursuing what God wants.

The kids don’t always get to see these moments because these moments are internal and intimate. I am barely holding it together sometimes, so I don’t want the kids to hear me praying about money. But that is the other conviction with treasure: Kids need to see that, despite very real struggles, you are deciding to be faithful.

The Psalms are full of songs, public songs, about how everything is going down the potty for King David, but at the end of each, he expresses the conscious decision to trust and follow God.
Heart treasure is a big deal, and your kids need to see that your focus is on God and pursing those things that are important to His kingdom. Openly share with them your focus. Let them see your focus. Intimately share with them the times that you don’t feel like it, but yet you are choosing to treasure God. Let them see that your real treasure can’t be destroyed by teenagers, clutter or thieves.

Confession is good for the soul. If you have a related testimony to share, share it in the comments below.

And, yes, that picture is of Mothra . . . because, Mothra.