02.17.12 “Where is your treasure?”
Scripture Reading: Psalm 42:1-5
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
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Reflection Questions
In Matthew 6, Jesus encourages us to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” He finishes that section by saying, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” The Psalmist strikes a similar tone in describing his soul “thirsting and panting for God.” Faith invites us to treasure “the living God” above all else.
- At the core of this series is the simple idea that “control issues are a spiritual problem with a spiritual cure.” Faith reorients our lives away from what is temporary and towards that which is eternal.
- The invitation of Psalm 42 is to “put your hope in God.” As we prepare for the final message in this series, in what way might God be inviting you to put your hope in him?
Weekly Prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.