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Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

Special treasure is what God called Israel several times throughout scripture. They did obey Him especially during the times of an obedient judge and obedient kings. Unfortunately, there were more often times of rebellion and disobedience. Christians have that problem, too.

A particular insight into God’s heart is what Jesus says in Matthew 6:21 “Where your treasure is, there is your heart also.” And, in Matthew 19:21 He instructs the rich, young ruler to sell all he has and follow Him then he would have treasure in heaven. But, in Mark’s account, he tells us that first Jesus looked at the young man with love and tenderness before telling him to go sell all his possessions. There is an exacting poignancy in that.

The apostles and early Christians were never treated like treasure during the early days of Christianity, and history lays out the truth that being an obedient to God Christian has never been easy. Paul is so eloquent in his description of what happened to him and his fellow workers while being obedient by working and spreading the gospel.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (ESV)

Treasure is measured by God, is given by God, is given its value by God. Man has strange measures of treasure. There have been serious financial disasters over the centuries, but the sun still rises in the East and the earth still holds its own through the force of gravity; babies are born every day, and the rain still falls to earth. These are blessings from the Father of lights.

Habakkuk knew how to measure treasure. Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' To silent stone, 'Arise! Can this teach?' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all. 20 "But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

We can only see through a dim glass how much God treasures us. Yes! Jesus willingly went to the cross so we could be God’s treasure in truth and without debt of sin or death. But, do we truly understand that sacrifice? Can we ever know what that pain and shame felt like? No, we never could because we are not God’s Son, and we never lived in Heaven. We do not know what it was like to give up all the treasures of Heaven to be reviled and rejected by the very ones we came to save. But, we do know the pain and shame of trials and troubles. We know the strengthening of our spiritual muscles as we weather the storms and push against the monoliths of tribulations. We know the joy of the dawning sun and the warmth of it on our faces after a cold sleepless night of stress.

The most lackadaisical parent still asks for obedience from his child. And the most lackadaisical parent can’t give the love, protection or abundance of life that Jesus does. At the very least we should offer Him our sacrifice of obedience. That is far more valuable than the sacrifice of praise for obedience has eyes and arms and legs as well as breath.

This little light of mine; I’m going to let is shine… let it shine! The song was written by Harry Dixon Loes (1895–1965) around 1920.

"God's Words For US" from Cecelia Lester

Trusting God Yields Happiness