Where is my heart?

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21).

So many questions in life really come down to this one question:

Where is my heart? 

• Do I chase after professional or personal accolades at the expense of my relationship with Christ? If so, my treasure is in achievement, and I will give my heart to the world. 
• Do I idolize any relationship above my relationship with Jesus? If so, my treasure is in another person, and I will cede control of my heart to another human being.
• Do I look around with fear, panic, rage, or bitterness at the state of the world? If so, my treasures is in the things of this world, and I will root my heart in the temporal rather than the eternal.

The list goes on. 

The word translated ‘treasure’ here is thesauros, which mean “a deposit” or “wealth.” And the word translated ‘heart’ is kardia, which per Thayer’s Lexicon means “the center and seat of spiritual life, the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors.”

Notice this verse doesn’t say we should determine where our heart is and then store our treasure there. No, our heart follows our treasure, not the other way around. 

But we can determine where to lay up our treasure—and our heart will follow. 

That’s why verses 19-21 of this same chapter tell us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasures is, there will your heart be also.”

I’ve found sometimes (ok, often), laying up treasure in heaven isn’t what I naturally want to do. I’d rather invest in things I enjoy on earth—hobbies, pursuits, fun things! And while there is nothing wrong with hobbies, the more I invest in them, the more they have my heart.

But similarly, the more time I spend with Jesus, the more He has my heart. The more I obey God and use the talents and resources He’s given me to share His love with others, the more my heart is anchored in the eternal rather than the temporal.  (And if I’m honest, this is a lesson I’ve hardly mastered yet—not even close). 

This life will offer us many, many opportunities to stake our treasure in various people, places, things, or experiences. 

But may we remember: our heart will always follow our treasure.