Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Matthew 6:19, 20
Last week I found this treasure on the edge of my driveway. I knew immediately by the perfect notches this was a broken arrowhead. The Blackstock Road runs about two miles from my home. This road was the trade route from the mountains to the sea long before Columbus discovered America.
My mind began to wonder about the person who fashioned and used this arrowhead. It's small, probably used to kill small game like rabbits and squirrels and birds. Was it made by a boy learning the skills to one day provide for his family? Was he traveling with his father, brothers, uncles on a hunt or a trade? Did he live in a village close by?
I've lived in my home for over thirty years. I've walked by this little arrowhead a thousand times without noticing. How long had it lain in this spot? 200years? 400 years? A thousand? Maybe it lay there just for me until today.
I thought how many times have I read through scripture. Each time something new will catch my attention. A verse I have passed over time and again suddenly has meaning just for me. It speaks personally to me.
My arrowhead had no meaning for my husband or the rockhound who simply said: "It's milky quartz." When I asked about the shape he matter of factly said, "Looks like a broken arrowhead." It held no personal meaning for him.
A broken arrowhead speaks mountains to me. I love history and I am a descendant of an Eastern Band Cherokee. It was my ancestor, my people who walked through my yard hundreds of years ago. It was my people who shot an arrow and left it broken. I marvel at the seemingly little things because they matter to me personally. It creates a desire to dig deeper into history, to know more. My dad had a collection of arrowheads he had found as a boy walking through the plowed fields but he had lost them all when a thief broke into their house and stole them along with other valuables.
As we read through scripture and a particular passage opens up to us, it should cause us to desire to dig deeper, to know more, to know the Lord more intimately. I can't know my ancestors except through what history tells us. I can't recover my dad's arrowhead collection, but I can have a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer and the study of His word that will open up new treasures with each reading.
What treasure has the Lord given you today? Have you hidden it away in your heart? No one can take it from you there, but the Lord does desire we freely share His treasures.
Hey Kids:
Discovering treasures from history can be so much fun whether in our own backyard or in a museum. Knowing the history of the area adds even more meaning to the treasure. I wrote a poem about finding treasures.
Along the Blackstock Road
Red clay field,
Old wagon road,
Hunting trail,
Warriors path,
Tomahawks,
Arrowheads,
Slate and flint,
Musket ball,
Lost in time
Collecting treasures.
Finding historical objects can take you back in time and make history more real when we dig deeper into history.
Knowing more about the Bible can take you into that historical world as well and make its meaning powerful in our daily lives.
As you and your family plan vacations this summer there are places that will take you into the Bible and make it come alive. Here's a partial list that may get you thinking. We'd love for you to share your experiences of the places you have visited.
The Creation Museum - KY
Noah's Ark - KY
Museum of the Bible - Washington, DC
Discovering Treasures of the Heart,
Gail
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