“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

-Luke 12:34 (NRSV)

The above is a simple observation that Jesus makes in the Gospel according to Luke, and it’s one that I had never given much mind. Then, several years back, the United Church of Christ used this passage as an anchor for the annual stewardship packet it offered to local congregations. I remember that one of the reflections in the packet flipped this sentence of scripture; instead of “where your treasure is, there your heart will be,” the reflection invited readers to think of the sentence this way: “where your heart is, there your treasure will be.”

That flip clicked something for me; the passage found its way into me like it hadn’t before. For what, frankly, ended up being all too short a time, that little inversion led to me ask with some intention about where the things of my heart were directed. Where am I committing my heart’s energies? What really matters and gives my life a sense of purpose and direction to things beyond only myself? Do my heart’s commitments align with the way in which I use my material or financial resources? These weren’t anxious or worrisome questions; they didn’t seem to come up for me with implied judgment. They were simply the Spirit’s invitation to observe and take a bit of inventory about where I was in living a directed life.

As we share our Deeper Lent journey through Spiritual Practice, we’ll reflect a bit together this week about stewardship, and perhaps especially stewarding our financial and material resources. Many of us are spending more time in our living spaces in these extraordinary days and perhaps taking some of that time to do some inventory -- what do we have? How does what we have serve our space? What value do our things have for us?

If those sorts of inventories are happening at your house these days, I hope they are fruitful :-). I hope, too, the ongoing, daily inventories of the heart to which God invites us are full of grace for you as you discern the good things God is doing and will do for the common good through the synergies of our hearts’ purpose and the resources of the treasures that we steward for a time.