Disciple Together

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

I run a small dayhome, caring for children out of my home. All of my families are believers, and greatly appreciate when we focus on Biblical learning during our time together, so I’m very lucky that I can build my own faith by helping others as well! 

Before Christmas, I realized I wanted to stop reacting to the world, the urgency, the mindless numbing, the “desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes, and pride of life” (from 1 John 2:16) I wanted some way to better remember that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, not the other way around. 

Here is your official invite to partner with me, because I am no expert at this! (Please consider joining our online Facebook community to contribute to the conversation.) But I do have some ideas that we’ve started to implement around here. 

In our dayhome, and with my 3 boys (ages 5 – 8) we’ve created a treasure box for each person, and displayed them on the wall. 

Each week, we will focus on one type of ‘treasure in Heaven’:

• Good deeds
• Prayer
• Generosity
• Obedience
• encouraging words
• Service
• Peacemaking
• Self-Control

But to kick us off, I wanted a visual way to remind us all that our time here on earth is finite, but our time with Jesus in Heaven is infinite. So we made an infinitely long chain… just kidding 🙂  

Instead, we used flat beads to make bracelets. I asked each child to chose a coloured bead to represent their time here on earth. Then, we used white beads for the rest of the bracelet, and finally one gold bead (because we had them and they were pretty) to represent the day we get to meet Jesus. 

I’m not entirely sure the kids enjoyed the project as much as I did (I’m still wearing my bracelet days later) but we never know what impact projects like this may have.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~Matthew 6:19-21

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” ~2 Corinthians 4:17-18 

 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” ~Revelation 21:3-4 (ESV)

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”
 ~1 John 2:15-16 

Why this matters

We are naturally inclined to turn our attention to what it immediate, tangible and what seems most urgent. But if we are not attentive to the things of the spirit, we are missing out on what is truly most important and urgent. 

But because we live in a physical world, and process physical input (think of the ways we relate to the world, via our senses), many of us also need some kind of reminder that the spiritual world exists, that we are spiritual beings, and that the spirit realm is our ultimate destination, so is arguably more important than our current state.

“God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth.” ~John 4:24