There is a grand exodus taking place today! The moving van arrives at 9:30 and my life is being altered forever! My eldest daughter, Christina is moving to North Carolina! It happened sooo fast! I am making the adjustment with great difficulty, because we have lived either together or within a few miles of each other for over 50 years. I have been so blessed and am excited for her new adventure.
As we went through the exercise of emptying her house with its years of memories and “treasures”, I became acutely aware of what has value and what does not. She has value, things do not! Life will definitely be different for those of us left behind…her imprint on each of us has been profound.
Philip and Christina 2023
When the girls were small and we were living in the jungles of Panama, I knew one day they would marry and move away from us. At that time, our young missionary commitment was to “burn out” on the mission field and the foreseeable adjustment was an inevitable supposition. However, God had another plan and has allowed us to be together as family and best friends for half a century!
Times are changing…separations are inevitable…daily we are hearing of both young and older people just dropping dead! Families are being separated by death and divorce. Children with blood clots and hemorrhages. Very few of us escape knowing someone in these days that has not left this earth, many abruptly. I have a class reunion coming up and the list of those who are gone and will not be joining us is long.
Every one of us faces physical death. There is no way of “dodging that bullet”. Godly obedience comes with the promise of long life…but death is inevitable and we are all dying a little each day!
What we do with the time we have, short as it is, tells us what we value most and where are “treasure” is. When our treasure is eternal, not temporal…we receive the promise of never dying but passing from one life to another…an eternal life.
In a society where monetary treasures are on the cusp of being devalued to nil, the temporal world is feeling pretty insecure. If we define our “treasure” by worldly standards we are in deep trouble!
“Treasures” are the trusts that God gives us until He calls us home. “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” Pr. 24: 4
Wisdom is seeing life’s situations from God’s point of view and acting in harmony with Him.
Understanding is application of wisdom and
Knowledge is familiarity gained by insight to (biblical) truth, experience and accumulated facts and reports.”
As women, are we wise, understanding and “full of knowledge”?
Are our rooms filled with rare and beautiful eternal treasures?
The realm of tribulation becomes the home of revelation and the resource of knowledge. “Whoever loves disciple loves knowledge.” Pro. 12: 1 The test! Do I love discipline? Discipline is accepting suffering as God’s fastest path to growth and then, giving thanks for it! (My husband’s definition and I’ve had a multitude of opportunities to see it proven!)
We had better love it, accept it, practice it, and endorse it because scripture states, “He who hates correction is stupid!” I already fight stupid! So, for me, it is imperative that I get wisdom, understanding and knowledge, because I want the fruit…” rooms filled with rare and beautiful eternal treasures.”
How about you?
My Treasures
People often say that the biggest treasures in life are the people that surround us. Spurgeon puts this in perspective when he said, “We must keep all earthly treasures out of our heart and let Christ be our treasure, and let him have our heart.” For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Like 12:34
Who has your heart?
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
