My niece Mala was on a drive with her Mom. She must have been looking up at the sky through the sunroof because she asked,
“Mom, have you ever been taken away by a dragon?”
My sister answered honestly that indeed, no, she had never been snatched away by a dragon. Mala was quiet for a while. Then she said,
“If I was kidnapped by a dragon, I would miss the ground.”
Her thoughts have been rolling around in my own mind since my sister relayed that sweet story to me. “I would miss the ground…”
How quickly this world becomes our home. How quickly we become weighed down by the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
I live at the bottom of a beautiful mountainous region. Recently, what was once coniferous mountainside above us is now winding roads with newly developed subdivisions. I decided one morning to drive up the mountain into the new developments to see a beautiful house for sale in the MLS listings. Though way out of my league, I wanted to see how it was situated on the property. I enjoy houses.
As I drove up to it, I was delighted to find that it was a stunning Christmas house. It had thick cedar trim, the perfect amount of accent lighting, cedar shutters like a Snow White cottage surrounding arcing custom windows, custom garage doors around the side of the house with forged ironwork hinges, a curving cobblestone driveway, all tucked into a heavily wooded lot of old-growth trees. Never mind the view. I could see straight to Washington state.
I decided to park next to it on that quiet street to get some reading done. The longer I sat there, the more I noticed about the house.
The roof had slimy stains from the wear & tear of rain & pine needles. I grew up on a wooded property. I know the issues huge amounts of pine needles can cause for a roof. They come down off the trees in piles, and they decay. They can cause real problems for gutters. It was already showing on this new house. Then there’s wind. We just had a major wind storm very recently that saw an evergreen destroy a car in our own neighbourhood. Trees were coming down all over the place. I could see this being a real concern for the property I was sitting by.
I quickly crossed this “Christmas house” off my dream list and my heart gave it the boot!
Now, I didn’t actually want that house. I just find it fun to admire what people build. But that is human nature, part of ‘being on the ground’. I am sure if you took a moment you could make a list as long as your arm of the things that weigh your spirit to the ground; cares that keep your mind on the temporary things of this life.
Matthew 6:19-20 tells us just what to do:
“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:”
Lay up, or invest, treasures in heaven where neither moth, rust, interest rates, bond markets, mortgage rates, nor world-wide recessions doth corrupt.
Invest in the Kingdom of God.
Yes, we need shelter, we need clothing, we need food. We even need a car. But it’s just stuff. These things don’t need to become our appendages. They don’t need to get into our hearts. Our treasures aren’t here. Oh, the boundless riches and rewards of a life surrendered to God. How about the freedom of a heart washed clean in His blood? Where else can you find authority like time on your knees in communion with the Master?
This life is only a vapour.
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14
Live your brief vapour a little more elevated. I don’t want to ‘miss the ground’. ~ Deanna Lemke
