Mice, spiders and mold, oh my! Plus dust, cobwebs and loads of junk. My basement needed help. The latter problem drew most of my attention — seriously time to declutter.

As I pored through the first 20 years of my life, I discovered several things. The excellent education I’d received, captured in old school papers, the love expressed in many cards and notes, the abundance my lower middle-class family experienced in providing all the books my little girl heart desired. God had provided, even in the worst times, with more than I had needed.

I also discovered how much of my past landed in the landfill. Literally, a dumpster full and more. Donations to Goodwill, a recycle bin filled multiple times, and the aforementioned dumpster stood as testimony that stuff eventually loses its value.

Don’t get me wrong. I kept plenty — I’m still human and I still hold onto memories through stuff. And discarding books still remains painful for me. But so much of what I’d clung to no longer mattered.

I sighed at the thought of so much hard work, so many signs of a life lived vanishing into the jaws of a clanking garbage truck. Loss hit me. Would I forget the memories? What kind of legacy was I dumping? When I died would others see no signs of a life that mattered?

The Lord then reminded me of a line from a poem by missionary C.T. Studd:

“Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.” 

Matthew 6:19-20 offers the hope to which Studd alludes: “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.”

What’s done for Christ lasts beyond our earthly boundaries. The work of our hands, dedicated to Christ, finds an existence that evades earthly landfills. In Heaven, these treasures endure!

The signs of a well-lived life may not appear in photos, or in cards from friends, or in any kind of documentation. They may not be evident to the human eye at all. When we finally reach home in Heaven, our treasures — the true measure of a life well-lived — will be revealed.

 

For further thought:

What “stuff” do you need to release? What do you need to change in your life to build treasures in Heaven?

For further reading:

A Life God Rewards: Why Everything You Do Today Matters Forever by Bruce Wilkinson, a great resource for more on the topic of heavenly treasures.

Share