Unchanging Treasure

I had my first regular babysitting job the summer I was 12, caring for a brother and sister who lived a few doors down from my family. Saving all of my money, I would go with my mom to the bank each week to make a deposit into my passbook savings account. It was rewarding when the bank teller handed my little booklet back to me with a new, higher balance. All summer the amount climbed. I had over $200 that August and I was excited to withdraw from my deposits just before school started so that I could buy new blue jeans, a fall sweater, and the popular boots that everyone wore with their straight leg jeans. What a sense of freedom having that money that I had earned and could spend on whatever I chose!

Passbook savings accounts are a thing of the past, but they were great for us kids when we were learning the value of making deposits for the future instead of spending all of our money right away. I think they brought a sense of accomplishment and responsibility to many of us.

The whole idea of making deposits into the bank is to have the money kept safely until we need it for a bill, or a coveted purchase, or a great family vacation, or maybe for something in our future that hasn’t presented itself yet.  The monies are meant to be withdrawn at some point in the future.

When we put our faith in God, we deposit our desires, our fears, our futures, our lives with Him through faith, believing that He will care for everything that concerns us. But we all struggle in our faith from time to time, and it’s in those times of uncertainty that we may try to withdraw from Him something we have deposited into His care. Keeping that faith and trust in God is something to hold on to—a lasting treasure:

Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.   1 Timothy 1:14

Having $200 in the bank  was exciting for a young girl, that amount of money went a long way in the 1970’s. But it didn’t last because I was willing to watch the balance in my passbook get lower in order to get something I wanted.  In fact, it went pretty fast once I started spending. It’s true that the wealth of the world is fleeting!

Our faith is different. When it comes to trust in Christ, our belief in the truth of His Word, we have an unchanging, everlasting treasure if we are willing to keep in His care what we have entrusted to Him.