It’s usually around this time of the year that my email box is bursting with promotional codes and messages of urgency begging me to take advantage of “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday” deals. Each pitch seeking to hit a mark that will provoke me to pull out the credit card and make a purchase that I supposedly can’t live without. It’s incredibly tempting. I confess that I struggled a lot this weekend as the ads came rolling in. For me it’s books. Commentary sets 50% off! Collected Writings of (insert name) at a discounted price! Study resources marked down today only! What’s a guy who loves books to do? Won’t there be a missed opportunity?! For our reader it may be something completely different. Whatever it is, this time of the year is geared towards taking advantage of that interest. It isn’t wrong to spend money on things like books, sports equipment or vacations. It isn’t wrong to bless others and show our love to them in the form of physical gifts. So where does it go wrong?

I can already sense the “rolling of the eyes” as I type this. That’s ok. My goal is not to tell you where to spend your money. It’s to plant a little seed that may hopefully lead us to considering whether or not we have the same urgency when it comes to storing up “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). Am I just as burdened to spend the currency of money, energy and time on heavenly treasures as I am on earthly treasures? The Bible describes those earthly treasures as things that are marked by time, deterioration and sometimes theft when it says “where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). There is a temporary nature about it all. This is in contrast to the enduring and eternal nature of storing up treasures for heaven. This contrast should create in our hearts some solemnity as we consider that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). The Lord does indeed have some “treasures” that He wants us to have a sense of urgency about. Have we been paying attention to those heavenly inbox messages? Have we been opening up the mailbox that is His Word to discover what a “treasure” to Him is? The window of time to do so is limited.

Where is your heart as the Christmas season approaches? Is there a desperation to take advantage of all the sales and not miss that once a year opportunity? Do I have my list of “treasures” that I absolutely must acquire this holiday season? I pray that we would have an urgency regarding the laying “up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20) that outweighs and overshadows any earthly treasure that is on our radar this Cyber Monday.