What’s your treasure? Perhaps you found a coat at the thrift store like the one your grandfather wore, or took a once-in-a-lifetime trip through the Himalaya. Maybe you treasure your children, or your cat, or a quiet space in the woods. Show us an image that represents a treasure to you.

This assignment reminds me of the following words spoken by Jesus, thousands of years ago:

“Don’t save treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy them. And thieves can break into your house and steal them.  Instead, save your treasures in heaven, where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them.   Your heart will be where your treasure is.”  

I try to take these words of Jesus to heart by reminding myself that anything of material value will one day fade and pass away…even our very bodies will die and return to dust.

According to the Apostle Paul (…and I believe it true) there are only three things that will last forever.  In his letter to the Corinthians he writes,  “All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.  Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

I do not know the answers to life’s problems, but I am promised that one day the very knowledge of God will be mine.  Until that day I try not fret over things I can’t understand.   Instead I try to cleave to what I am promised will last forever…. faith, hope and love.  These three keep me sane, peaceful and happy, and one day they will issue me into my life eternal.

Without love all is lost for there would be no faith or hope.   Love is the thing I treasure most and one of the best ways to witness love is through the simplicity of a smile.

Just a few Smiles I hold dear