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Where's your heart?

I was flying recently and as we were banking during the initial ascent I was able to look out of the window at the city with its skyscraper-abundant skyline getting further and further away.  Suddenly a suburb came into view and I noticed that the tallest structure was unmistakably a church steeple and was reminded of something I read years ago.  I don't remember who wrote it, but the gist of it went something like this:

The Gospel of Matthew tells us "where your treasure is, there will your heart be, also."  For centuries before the Industrial Revolution, the largest building in any city or town would have most likely been the church.  It was the central meeting place.  The citizens came together and gave their money to build large, beautiful churches, edifices to stand as a testament to the importance of that faith in their lives.  The people might not have had much, but they spent their treasure to build those churches because it was so important to them.  Today, almost any major industrial city, especially American cities, will have a skyline peppered with sky-scraping bank buildings, hotels, or general office space.  When you see that it has to make you wonder about where our treasure is today.

Now then, having said all of that I want you to understand that I am not advocating for the return to pre-Industrial Age thinking.  Not by any means.  The memory of that illustration made me think about my own life, though, and made me think about my own treasure.

Sometimes I get frustrated about things that I don't have that I want to have.  Sometimes I can get down about any number of things.  In that moment, though, I was forced to re-evaluate my approach to that train of thought.

What good does it do me, what purpose does it serve to be frustrated and complain?

What would be better would be to take a step back, remove the emotional aspect from the equation for a few minutes and see where my treasure is so that I would better understand where my heart is.  Where am I investing my money, my time, and my energy.  Am I investing it or just spending it?  If I am spending the treasure of my time watching TV and YouTube videos, the treasure of my money on useless things, or the treasure of my energy on exercises in boredom, then I am showing myself that it is in those things that my heart is.

Is that where I truly want it to be?  Where I truly feel it is?  No?  Then there has to be a change.  If that change is going to happen, I have to do it.

I must begin investing my treasures in things that will provide a return on my investment and allow me to build toward my heart's true desires.  I must invest the treasure of my time on learning, producing, and gaining skill and understanding in my field; my money must be invested in projects that will ultimately provide me with more funds to do more things; and my energy must go towards exercises that strengthen my body, mind, and most importantly my relationships, so that they and I will remain strong for the long haul.

So, I ask you today, where are your treasures?  Where is your heart?  Is it where you want it to be?  If not, make the change.  You can do it!

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