Corona Devo 3096

I was just putting the finishing touches and final spices into my crock pot recipe, when I realized I was out of paprika!  I searched my spice cupboard...no paprika.  I searched my pantry...no paprika.  I was almost late for work...and I needed paprika.

I am usually pretty diligent about putting ingredients on my shopping list that I am almost out of, but apparently this time I had digressed.  

How I needed some papri...

And then there it was.

In the way back of my spice cupboard, hidden by other bottles..there was a cylinder (recipe-saving) bottle of paprika, standing tall and in reserve for just this moment.

I was so grateful that I had a bottle stored up.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  ~Matthew 6:19-21

The paprika saved my recipe (and my mood), but let's get real...our hope is not in paprika.

I was thankful to have found an extra jar of paprika stored away, but God reminds us in the Bible that we must be very certain about what we are storing away during our fleeting time here on earth.

...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...  ~Matthew 9:20

This means faith in God today matters for our tomorrow.  This means our love of God and our obedience to Him, and the fruit that is produced in our lives because of our faith in God.  Honoring God in our life today matters today and will affect our tomorrow.

~~~

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal..."  ~Matthew 9:19

Money, status, pleasures and anything else that we pour ourselves into that is not rooted in Christ will have no effect on our eternal lives, and all of that will fall away, fade away, and will amount to nothing on God's Heavenly scales.

Moths and rust destroy those things.  All of those things.

Why can't we realize that today?  God warns us that the folly and distortion of being focused on earthly-priorities will become painfully clear for many in the future.

"His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  ~Luke 3:17

Store up the right things today, and God is not talking about a spare bottle of paprika in actuality or in any metaphorical way.  

We can certainly be wise stewards in this life, and we can also enjoy the blessings that the Lord has given us, but lest us not be deceived about what we should be storing up here on earth, and what "ingredients" we should have in the pantry of our heart and in the reserves of our Spirit. 

  • But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control.  ~Galatians 5:22  
  • Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. (5)Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (6) These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. (7) Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  ~Deuteronomy 6:4-7   
  • And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  ~I Corinthians 13:13

It was absolutely a blessing for me to find the spare jar of paprika in my spice cupboard today, but no earthly in-the-moment and temporary treasure will ever ever compare with what God has in store for those who love Him, honor Him, and store up treasures in His Name here on earth. 

  • However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him...  ~I Corinthians 2:9
  • In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (4) And where I go you know, and the way you know.”  ~John 14:2-4
The Lord never tells us in the Bible that He will keep in perfect peace those who have paprika and money and stuff stored away for a time in need.  But He does give us words of wisdom for our days:

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.  ~Isaiah 26:3

~~~

On our bookshelf, possibly by our bedside, or in an accessible bookstore--the (life-saving) Bible awaits, standing tall and in reserve for just this moment.


Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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