What Is Your Personality And What Will You Do With It?

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 When a young person matures, he begins to plan what he wants in life and the path he must take to succeed. There is nothing wrong with this, in fact the wise person will carefully prepare for the future. He spends a lot of time searching out all he will need to do to reach his goal; he speaks with many whose lives are similar to the career he desires, and applies himself to be and do all that is necessary to establish his way. God forbid that he should be like the fool who spends his life eating, drinking, and being merry - what a waste of a human life. No, the wise will avoid those things that can only hold him back from the way he needs to go. But as in all things pertaining to life in this world, there’s a danger in it. The danger resides in his motives. If the career he plans for himself is purposed to acquire wealth, then he’s missed the point and later will discover that wealth does not bring him the happiness he hoped for. When he has houses and lands and automobiles, and things for recreation, he will realize that he’s missed what’s really important. Indeed Jesus spoke to this. He taught that wealth is fleeting. Wealth is subject to loss. Things that one loves will grow old and deteriorate. Nothing is certain in this world – absolutely nothing. The Lord taught that this life goes downhill, people and things age, health and wealth are not a sure thing ...and then what? Jesus taught the wisdom of seeing this world for what it is. Temporary. Very temporary. But, he said, there is another world which all will come to, some to heaven, some to hell. What one does with his short journey through this life will determine the quality of his life in the world to come. Salvation is an entirely separate issue, and one who is born again is safe under the covering of the Atonement Jesus has provided. But once that is established ...what one does with his life while on earth will determine his status and the available rewards in heaven. And those things will not fade away, they are eternal. If everything on earth is temporary and passing away, does it not make more sense to focus on the life to come which is forever? It takes wisdom to understand this, because we’re talking about the world we see now versus the world which we don’t see and know little about. It takes more than wisdom, it takes faith - faith in the words of Jesus Christ who revealed these things for anyone who will believe him. Without faith, one is left to himself in his short and temporary journey. Having thought little about the world to come, which is eternal, he foregoes the opportunity to lay up for himself the treasures that really matter, treasures in heaven which will last forever. “Our greatest fear should not be fear of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.” -Dwight L. Moody So. What really matters? What makes up these treasures which will be forever? The answer to that is that each one must take a good and somber look at himself, take note of the uniqueness of his personality, his makeup, his talents, and seek to know from the Lord how he can INVEST all that he has and all that he is for ...eternity. It takes seeking the will of God for one’s life in prayer, fasting, spending time before the Lord, until the Lord reveals to him his plan for his life, and then applying himself to use all he has for the sake of fulfilling that plan. How could anything be more important? Let your treasure be in what really matters. Should you spend your life this way, at the end you will have the fruits of a life well spent, with eternal reward that will never grow old or deteriorate, and that will be joy forever. And then you will hear from the Lord: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the JOY of your Lord.” Matthew 25:21