So, last night my 16 year old running machine of a son, Keith, and his cross country teammate, Alex, got together at our house to go for a 7 mile run. They log this distance or more almost every day during the summer to stay in shape for their school team’s competitive fall season. Consequently, they are both great athletes and have received awards, including lettermen’s jackets, from school for their efforts. Because the only thing Keith ever sees his mom run is the “couch to fridge sprint", I thought I’d take him down to the basement this morning to prove that the old lady used to be somewhat of a runner herself. We dug through boxes marked “garage” and found my unbelievably small and smelly old lettermen’s jacket (see picture). Medals had fallen off, some were broken, some were in a crummy, plastic case in the box next to where we had found the jacket.
We both had a good laugh, and the sight of the old “red and gold” got me thinking. Most of our earthly accomplishments will wind up just like my jacket. Though at one time seemingly amazing, they’re pretty much all headed for a place where “moth and rust destroy”. Even the cool programs and accomplishments that I have sometimes pulled off in ministry. Moth meat. While Matthew 6:19-21 reminds us that we need to be storing treasures in heaven, II Corinthians 4: 7 reminds us that we have “treasure” in our lives showing life-changing hope coming from God (His accomplishments) and not us ( our accomplishments). Let the lost see the treasure of Christ in your life, so that they might find eternal hope. After all, people are the only lasting treasures we will ever have.
