Bible Reading: Judges 13, 14, 15, Luke 6:26-49.
Memory Verse: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Luke 6:45 KJV.
Oxford dictionary defines a treasure as a quantity of precious metals, gems, or other valuable objects. A key factor in the definition above is valuable and it is relative. What is valuable to you may not be valuable to me. Thus your treasure may actually be repugnant to me because we have different values. Many have always looked at treasure as something that is always of value to everyone but a look at the memory verse shows that is wrong. The bible says in Luke 6:45 (KJV), “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
So a treasure could be good or bad. The question is what do you keep in your heart? What do you value so much? Do you value showing love or revenging your hurt? Do you enjoy rejoicing with others or do you really want people to cry out of pain? Do you derive satisfaction from demotion of your competitors or their promotion?
These are a few examples of what you have as treasure in your heart. Such treasures are accumulated by your experience, environment, type of people you interact with, your upbringing and more importantly, your personal decision and intention among others. If your experience, environment and upbringing are negative but you choose to live a life of forgiveness and love, you will accumulate good treasure. However if you choose a life of revenge and hate, it does not matter your upbringing, you will end up with bad treasure.
It is important to note that the Lord tells us in Matthew 18:21-22 to forgive seventy times seven (490) times! He further said that we should love our neighbours the way we love ourselves in Matthew 12:31. So what do you have in your heart? You need to be intentional to ensure you have good treasure. Anyone with bad treasure will also be partaker of the consequences of such treasure as the bitterness associated with such treasure will affect the person’s health and ability to receive from God. (Hebrew 12:14).
Action Point:
Examine yourself and prayerfully, replace every bitterness you harbour against anyone with love.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero