PRAYER PROMPT ••• My great-uncle lives beside this extraordinary Victorian home that has fallen into disrepair.
It must have once been a stunning masterpiece and I’ve always wanted to go in it; unfortunately, it’s beyond repair and it would be downright stupid and dangerous to even try.
My sentimental heart gets sad when I see it because I think of what must have taken place inside the walls way back when.
I like to imagine a happy family with boisterous boys in knickers running across the lawn with loud laughter and daughters, dressed in pretty white dresses with pink bows, giggling and skipping down the steps while their parents fondly look over them from the top of dainty China teacups (clearly, I watched a lot of Disney and period-piece musicals growing up!)
I really don’t know anything about the place short of it’s a miracle the place hasn’t collapsed on itself yet.
But I have always been a bit sentimental about old houses and antiques.
I felt like people’s memories lived there and were a part of the history.
Therefore, we should be respectful.
I still value and appreciate the things of yesteryear, and my house is primarily furnished with hand-me-downs and antiques that have a special story to me.
But as my friendship with Jesus has deepened, I’ve recognized what a world of decay we live in.
Nothing on this side of heaven will last.
The dining room table that was my grandmothers, that I loved growing up and which is in my house today, will eventually fall apart.
The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:19-21, “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.”
Today, as you pray, ask God to remind your heart that things are things.
Their value won’t hold up in heaven.
Even precious gems and gold are only good for paving roads in heaven!
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you look at your most valued treasures through a heavenly perspective and embrace what truly matters long term.
