A farmer in the Swiss canton of Aargau made a profitable find recently. In July, he decided to remove a mole hill on his property. In the process, he found a bunch of old coins. In September, a group of volunteer archaeologists did some more searching and found even more loot: 4,166 coins to be exact. They were made of bronze and silver and constitute one of the largest such finds ever. The coins were from the Romans in the 3rd century, meaning some of them are almost 1800 years old. They bear the images of different Caesars from that period of time.
Researchers speculate that someone was using the ground as a makeshift vault for safekeeping. The coins were kept safe all right – they remained hidden for centuries. The money would have represented a small fortune even for the 3rd century. No word yet on what their modern day value might be.
So think for moment about the man or woman who hid away all those coins. I suppose they didn’t trust the banks, if there were any. No doubt they were hoping to be rich and had plans to do something with all that money. Maybe they were saving up for something special. Whatever the dream or reality, they never got to use the money. It just stayed hidden in the ground waiting for someone else to come along.
Jesus had special instructions for people in his day. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Our world is often obsessed with hoarding money and items that are subject to decay. Jesus’ point is that ‘we can’t take it with us.’ Too often our treasures are left buried in a field for someone else to take advantage of. They don’t add value to our lives or the lives of others. So while we are here on earth, we should be investing in heavenly treasure. What’s the currency of heaven? People. So the question becomes, “Am I investing in projects and ventures that will result in people spending eternity in heaven?”
We all have enough toys and gadgets to play with. While we might always hope for a larger bank account, most of us are doing just fine. So in addition to planning for retirement, make sure you are also investing in a heavenly treasure. Someday you’ll be glad you did.
