Matthew 6:21 NKJV
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Consider the following facts:
Five days after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Congress approved to provide chaplains for the Continental Army troops. On the same day General George Washington, the commander of the army, issued the order to appoint chaplains to every regiment. 40
Congress then appropriated federal funds to pay chaplains to pray at the opening of all sessions, a practice that has continued to this day, with Congress not only funding its congressional chaplains but also the salaries and operations of more than 4,500 military chaplains.
Congress passed an act in which special lands were designated "for the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren missionaries, for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity."41
Congress approved three treaties with American Indian tribes in which President Thomas Jefferson approved annual salaries to pay to Catholic missionaries out of the federal treasury.42
Our early Fathers intended on spreading Christianity, not silencing it, all while using federal funds to do it!
What are we doing with our financial recourses? Are we using them exclusively on ourselves? Or are we helping to promote the Gospel like or early Fathers? While we can’t use federal funds today to spread Christianity, we certainly can do our part with the resources God has given us.
Matthew 6:21 tells us that if we want to know the current state of our heart, we just need to look at where we put our focus. What are we doing with our time, money and talents? We all can get so busy "doing life" that we fail to stop and check our priorities. Before we know it, all of our time is focused on our job, our relationships, our children, even our hobbies. Many times when we have the opportunity to slow down and reprioritize we find our hearts so distant from where they should have been. I want to challenge you to give something back to God for the promotion of Christianity and helping others. We can do that by financially supporting our local church. Not with finances only. But with our time and talent too. The Bible teaches that God blesses the giver. So why not spread the Gospel of Jesus and get blessed at the same time?
Action steps
- Read - Re-read Matthew 6:21.
- Think - What have you been thinking about lately? Has your mind been burdened? On a scale of 1 to 10, where's your focus right now on demonstrating God's love to others? What about demonstrating His love to yourself? [Remember, we need to love ourselves, too.]
- Write - Journal ways you can show the love of God to yourself and others today.
- Pray - Ask God to show up big in helping you share His love.
- Take away - God loves people so much that He gave us His Son to take care of everything (John 3:16). Take time today to check in with your heart and see where your attention is. Make the adjustments needed to keep your focus on God and people, and you'll find that the One Most Qualified will take care of all your needs (Matthew 6:33).