WRITTEN BY MICHELE HANSEN
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (Luke 6:45)
Human beings are fascinating creatures. Setting aside all the physical mysteries that hold us together, I’m talking about what makes us human, not just a living thing that consumes…amoebas do that, and they are most definitely not human.
What makes us “humankind” is that we were created in God’s image specifically to bring God glory. But then came a “fly in the ointment”, so to speak, when Satan tempted Adam and Eve. In their rebellion they listened to him and sin entered the perfect world…nothing was perfect after that.
The perfect relationship between the Creator God and His creation was broken, the heart of man was marred. The soul connection was severed. What was once perfect communion, was now tainted and suspicious.
As humans we all start out on the same foot…dead in our sins and headed for eternal separation from God. When we make the decision to follow Christ, we are made alive in Him and headed to paradise when we leave this earth, or when Jesus comes back. God chose to fill frail, fragile vessels with His all-surpassing greatness.
The salvation brought by Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the precious Lamb of God, was the action taken by our perfect God to render sin impotent and deliver His cherished creation back into right relationship with Him.
2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Christ dwells in the believer. 2 Corinthians 5:5 says, “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” The Spirit of God is deposited in our spirits at salvation thus we become “spiritually alive”. That is true treasure.
The soul (heart) is said to be “desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9) and at odds with God. So, within every believer, there is a constant battle to surrender that soul which is all about “me” to the Holy Spirit, which is all about God. This is what churchy talk means by sanctification. Allowing that Holy Spirit deposit to hold sway over our flesh, our desires; good, bad and ugly. Not every good thing is a God thing, and as believers, we give God permission to teach us to follow Him and show us what walking in the Spirit looks like.
That beautiful treasure, that deposit from God, gives us everything we need to live a godly life. (2 Peter 1:3). It’s a conscious choice to allow God to change us from the inside, in our soul, and grow us to be more and more like Jesus.
As we continue to trust in Jesus and allow our spirit to walk in tandem with Holy Spirit, He will pay dividends in peace and security that no “X” marks the spot” could ever touch. The treasure of our triune God gifted to us in surrender’s grace, brings us all together in unity in a way the world just cannot comprehend.
Let’s all make sure that what comes out of our lives in the form of words and actions, brings out that treasure of glory for our Maker.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21)
