August 2023
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:20-21
When I was a kid I had a youth director who told me many times that I needed to give my heart to Jesus. I didn’t understand at the time what he was talking about. Through the years, I have gained a deep understanding of what he meant.
Sometimes your life in the world might be going great. Psychologically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually you are in good shape. That can change very quickly. I have suffered most of my life from depression. It doesn’t matter how well things are going in my life when I have a depressive episode. Everything seems dark. It’s as though the light has been stolen from my life. What can I do in this and other situations where there is a challenge with psychological, emotional, spiritual, or financial stability?
What I have learned I can do is to give my heart to Jesus. The heart, in scripture, is the center of one’s being, involving emotions, reason, and will. If the center of my life depends on how it’s going with me at the time, when things don’t go well, I can be robbed of joy and everything can be very dark. If the center of my life is Jesus, by faith, I can trust he is with me in the darkness and will be my light.
I have done several funerals through the years for people who have committed suicide. I have always included in their service Psalm 139:11-12: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” We need to hear that and take it to heart! How I wish those who consider committing suicide could hear it and realize, in their hearts, that Jesus, the light, “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5. Committing suicide is not the way to deal with the darkness. I still grieve over one of Holly’s friends, a vibrant and delightful person, who committed suicide. It seemed to her the best way to go in the midst of her challenges.
The truth is, Jesus is with us in the midst of any challenge; psychological, emotional, spiritual, or financial. That is why I now understand that I need to give my heart to Jesus—again and again and again. If I truly treasure my relationship with Jesus above all else, my heart will be safe with him. If I treasure psychological, emotional, spiritual, or financial stability above all else, a challenge to any of those things can do me in.
God bless us as we wait for a new pastor for St. Luke’s. God bless us with the realization that Jesus is with us in the midst of this current challenge and any challenges to come. Trust that he will never leave us or forsake us but will guide us through according to his will and way. Give your heart to Jesus. He is your light!
Spreading, Serving, and Sharing with You,
Pastor Carl