Where Your Heart Is

There are many things in life that draws our attention. As a man, having my eye captured by an attractive woman is, well, something that was rather common before I met my fiancé. Most all people have some sort of affection for money and no, this affection is not always about love. Sometimes, people hold on to their money not because they have a real genuine love for it but rather, because they are afraid of being without it.

Let’s face is, money buys so many things in this life. No, happiness is not one of those and I know this as some of the saddest times of my life came when I had a lot of money. Yes, people were there but that does not mean that they were there for me but rather, what I could offer them and some of the happiest times in my life came when I did not have much money at all. Some of the things that money can do for you can make you happy such as having a place to live and food on the table but having the nicest car or the finest food, well, they will fail you if your heart is not right and I believe this is something that most people eventually come to realize.

Some of the happiest people that I have known have had very little in terms of physical possessions and/or money but they had great riches such as honor, integrity, compassion, love, faith, and on and on. What these people lacked in money or possessions that made up for in ways that money cannot bring and/or buy. These people may not have had everything that they wanted but they had everything that they needed and while I have not always understood such a concept, I now realize that it’s about where your heart is.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

—Matthew 6:21

This is a scripture that most all people know whether Christian or not. The meaning is simple but I am not sure that most people truly understand it and I do not believe that I did for a long time until I started to ready and study scripture. When I began to put my time and effort into scripture, I started to understand what this piece of scripture was saying. My time and effort were spent in learning about God and because I truly wanted to know God more, this is where my heart was and this was a drastic change for me.

Yes, I always believed in God and took time to study scripture from time to time but my heart wasn’t in it at the time. Wait, what? Simply put, yes. Just because you do something from time to time does not mean that your heart is in it and we see this in many different aspects of life especially in relationships. Too many people are so quick to jump into a relationship because they have an emotion moved but then they are so quick to get out of it then enter into a new relationship and the same is true for marriage as many people enter into marriage too quickly and/or for all the wrong reasons.

For me, there’s been a time or two when, at the end of a relationship, my heart was not in it. Although I held on, my heart was not in it so I know firsthand about entering into a relationship or being in a situation for all the reason(s). In other words, just because we are in something does not mean that our heart is there and if our heart is not in something, what are the chances that we are going to do our best in the situation?

The more that I read scripture, the more that I realize how important it is for a person’s heart to be in something regardless how big or small it is. Think about Abraham and what he had to do. God told him that he would make him the father of many and this was certainly a mighty task which meant that Abraham had some mighty work to finish. Any time that God offers you something, it is yours for the taking but you will be required to have your heart in it because what God gives is bigger than anything we can get on our own and anything this great will require genuine and sincere effort.

Of course, this does not mean that we are going to like what God has in store for us but when this is the case, we have to give more of ourselves and the only way this is going to happen especially over a long period of time is with the heart. If our heart is not in it, we are not going to give what is required to accomplish the goal and/or mission. When our heart is in it, we will do whatever we must do even if it means going the extra mile for it. After all, our treasure is where our heart is and we know where a person’s heart is by the amount of time and effort they invest.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

—Matthew 7:16-20