In a series titled, Hooked, a focus on tackling temptation and being the ‘ones that got away’, our pastor reminded us, ‘This is not a destination but a way station.’ With a reminder to be Kingdom-focused he touched on one of the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 6:19-20
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
But the verse that has been a focus of my own wrestling is the next one! In Matthew 6:21, Jesus tells us, 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Quite a distinction from current cultural idioms: Follow your heart… Young at heart… My heart was in the right place… Near and dear to my heart… Trust your heart… etc. Matthew 6:21 appears to be telling us something VERY different. Where we place our treasure, there our hearts will be. It’s as if our hearts might not be trustworthy where they are now!!! 🤣 It’s as if Jesus reminds us of Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things… It is a call to examine what we value and to check ourselves, as Christians, to see if our values align with what Jesus is teaching us. If we are not aligned, we are to make some changes. We don’t want to, but we know we must. It is easy to follow my heart. But to move my heart to value other things? That’s hard but Jesus is telling us in this verse how to do just that… I need to put my values, my treasures, i.e., my time and resources somewhere other than where I may want to put them now. (Ouch! On my own, I can’t change my heart, but I can submit and obey to His teachings and watch with awe and amazement as my heart moves.)
It is beyond fascinating that this difficult concept follows Jesus’ teaching on prayer and fasting. In particular, what we call The Lord’s Prayer, as well as the warning on unforgiveness is found in Matthew 6:9-15.
I have a Charles Spurgeon study bible that provides the following comments on The Lord’s Prayer where he writes about the final verse regarding temptation. “This verse comes from the Lord’s prayer, and each element can be divided into most instructive heads. “Our Father in heaven” – I am a child away from home. “Your name be honored as holy” – I am a worshipper. “Your kingdom come” – I am a subject. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – I am a servant. “Give us today our daily bread” – I am a beggar. “And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” – I am a sinner. “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” – I am a sinner in danger of being a still greater sinner.
Spurgeon writes: After a man is converted and has received forgiveness of sins, soon he will be tempted by the devil, for Satan cannot bear to lose his subjects. And when Satan sees someone cross the border and escape out of his hand, he gathers up all his forces and exercises all his cunning that he may slay him at once. To meet this special assault, the Lord makes the heart watchful. This is thus a prayer of watchfulness, which is necessary from the commencement of the Christian life even to its close There is no hour in which a believer can afford to slumber and in addition to watchfulness, a believer must never deliberately enter temptation. Anyone who does so is a liar before God.
And so, another difficult teaching of Jesus beckons us – to hear his Words, to examine ourselves, to count the cost, and to make a decision – do we submit ourselves to Jesus and call Him the Lord of our lives, or do we stay committed to ourselves, our own beliefs, and our own desires. Consider this: the sermon found in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 ends with the warning about the foundations built on either rock or sand – God calls, we choose to follow or not. We were never promised that it would be easy, we are promised that it is worth it. We are promised that His Words are true. We are promised that His Words bring us life. And we are promised that we will have help along the way, while we deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. The teaching was a difficult message for 1st century followers, it is difficult for 21st century listeners as well. The timing of the message doesn’t matter, Jesus calls everyone, in every time period, to live in a way that is counter-cultural… because as the King of Heaven, His way is always different from the rulers of this broken, sinful world. We either trust Him or we don’t.
It has always been a fruitful exercise for me to pray The Lord’s Prayer and to stop and think about each line and ask myself… do I understand what this line means? Am I living it? Or am I being a hypocrite just citing the prayer by memory then adding my wish list?
“… but deliver us from evil. Amen… Now, God, bless the people I like, give me more money – a winning lottery ticket is not too hard for you! Or, give me a better, easier, more fulfilling job – with people I get along with, better pay – enough to retire and live a life free of the stress I endure now! Give me better relationships – You know that one person is so mean… this one doesn’t like me… I wouldn’t get so angry or bitter if that person was better… In Jesus’ name, I pray.” Ok, so maybe not all of those thoughts are expressed at the end of a single prayer. Maybe it’s just one, depending on the current circumstance or trial we find ourselves in. But Spurgeon calls me to consider my identity, in this world, as I pray.
- I am a child away from home.
- I am a worshipper.
- I am a subject.
- I am a servant.
- I am a beggar.
- I am a sinner.
- I am a sinner in danger of being a still greater sinner.
And Jesus teaches me gently – Matthew 22:36-40 (Love God, Love Others ) John 13:34-35 (Love others as Jesus loved me)
Our church has a link to a Prayer of Submission – a sample prayer where you confess to Jesus that He is God and you are not. A prayer that confesses that you acknowledge that you are a sinner. No excuses, no complaints, no comparisons – this is the sincere approach of a disobedient child to a loving parent, this is the contrite admission of wrong by the selfish, stubborn, and pride-filled to the patient and loving master. You can write your own, but the sample from theChapel.cc is shown below.
God, I choose today to submit my whole being to you.
I submit my mind to You. Please give me the mind of Christ; pure, admirable, and excellent. God give me the power to think on things consistent with Your truth. I submit my ears to You today that I would only let what is consistent with Your truth into my soul. Give me the wisdom to not allow the lies in, but to believe Your truth. I submit my eyes to You that they would only look at pure things. I submit my mouth to You that my words would be pleasing to You and that they would bring You glory in what I say and build others up. I submit my heart to You, acknowledging that it is deceitful in all of its ways. So, I ask for You to give me a pure heart today. May my motives be pure to serve You and bring You glory only. I submit my hands to You to use them to build people in Your church and Your Kingdom. I submit my feet to You where I can, only going places that are pleasing to You. I submit my whole body to You today. My life is Yours. Use it as You see fit.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Today I pray that each day I awake with grateful heart. A heart that is strengthened with the truth of His promises. A heart that is watchful of my own steps and my own temptation to wander away. A heart that looks at our all-knowing, ever-present, and all-powerful God, and cries with adoration, ‘Great is Your faithfulness!’
I hadn’t heard that before from Charles Spurgeon. I really like that!