A WORD FOR TODAY, January 22, 2026
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, January 22, 2026
“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21, WEB
What is the most treasured possession you have on earth? I have trouble answering this question. I automatically think about my faith. Of course it is the thing I treasure most, but is it a possession I have on earth? The same can be said about another answer: salvation. The next most appropriate answer is anything to do with my family. I do treasure my children, but they are not my possessions. That has been made abundantly clear in the past few years since they are grown up and living their own lives without me. I treasure my husband more than any other person in the world, and of all the people in the world, he is the one I can possess, just as he possesses me. Even so, I’m not sure I can even all Bruce my most treasure “possession.”
I think there are as many answers to this question as there are people to whom it has been asked. Some suggest their pets. Animals are living things, but in the eyes of the law our pets are considered possessions. Anyone with a cat will know that no one can possess them. We can feed them, play with them, and clean their litter boxes, but I'm not so sure we can possess them. I saw an article recently that talked about how cats domesticated themselves, showing up in civilization with a cute meow to which humans responded with “Of course I’ll serve you.” Many people answer that they treasure God, using different names like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. To me, it is even more difficult to possess Him than anything else. How do you possess God?
We usually begin to ask this question when there is something in the headlines. Natural disaster makes us think about what we’d try to save if the flood waters start to rise. News about crime in our neighborhoods makes us wonder how to protect the things we love. Stories about court cases that have divided families make us think about how we would respond if a sibling demanded more than their share of an inheritance. I was blessed to have family who were respectful during times of loss, but I’ve heard very sad stories of family members stealing the contents of homes before wills are read, insisting that it belongs to them.
In a legal point of view, these questions make us think about what it means to be possessed. What is really ours, and who should be set free or let go? Do we really need to fight over Aunt Joan’s mink coat or the library of first edition books that our great-grandparents collected? Do we really treasure those items, or do we desire to possess them for all the wrong reasons?
What is the most treasured possession you have on earth? Perhaps a better way for a Christian to ask this question would be to wonder what you treasure most? With that wording, we can easily answer God, faith, family, perhaps even pets. As we consider the original question, however, we have to think about whether our earthly treasures actually possess us. Do we treasure photos of family? Memories from our past? Items that have a monetary value? Do we treasure something that we think we can’t live without? Something that makes our life more interesting or easier? Sadly, many of the things we consider our most treasured possessions are items that have caused rifts between people and even between us and our Father.
As we identify these treasures, we need to think about how we are possessed by them. Do they lift us up and help us to be what God intends? Or do they hinder our relationship with God and the work He has called us to do? Do we put our treasures first, forgetting the God who has given us every good and perfect gift, even those things we treasure and think we possess? In today’s reading, Jesus reminds us that the very things we try to possess are temporary. They will be consumed by time and elements or stolen by thieves. Yet, the treasures we lay up in heaven will be eternal, and He wants us our hearts to be focused on Him because nothing can consume or steal the things that we should truly possess: the non-tangible things like love, respect, faith, and salvation that come from our Father by His grace.
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