Hidden Treasure

It is important to not hide your treasure.  Earlier this month, a man from Bend learned that lesson first hand.  According to the Bend Bulletin, Dale Parkinson hid a large part of his life savings in the secret compartment of a safe.  He had pulled over $50,000 out of the bank in 2007 for fear that it would be lost in the choppy stock market.  He hid his fortune away, thinking it would fair better in the secret compartment.

Years later, Parkinson sold the safe to a local locksmith in Bend named Bryan Donnell.  It had been so long since Parkinson hid his treasure, he forgot the small fortune in the secret compartment.  When Donnell took possession of the safe, he took the treasure with it.  After a closer look, Donnell was shocked to find the money.  Wanting to do the right thing, Donnell returned the money and all ended well.

Parkinson’s error is a great illustration of an error many of us make in our spiritual lives.  We receive incredible treasure in our relationship with Christ and the promise of salvation.  Because we appreciate the treasures of the faith, we lock it up in a secret compartment.  Being in that secret compartment, that faith has little to do with the lives we live every day.  With time, we forget it is even there.

Jesus warned against that type of spiritual hoarding.  In Luke 19 Jesus tells a story about a servant who hides money away.  The servant is scolded for not putting the treasure he has been entrusted with to good use.  The lesson: the treasures of the Christian faith are given to us in order to bless the world around us.

As you begin the New Year, put the treasures of life with Christ to work.  If Christ has made a difference in your life, tell someone about it.  If Christ has been generous with you, be generous with others.  Let the treasures of the Christian life inspire a different way of life.  That way, no one will be shocked by your faith because they witness its riches at work every day.