"Where is your treasure?"

Every year at this time, as I'm thinking about my message the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I recall the sermon I heard many years ago that pricked my conscience and increased my desire to learn more about the Christian faith.

It was 1992, and I was living in Lexington, Kentucky, where I was wrapping up a master's degree at the University of Kentucky (I still root for the Wildcats in basketball). I was 23 years old and not a believer at the time. But God was at work on my heart. I started to take a real interest in Christianity, remembering some of the Christian friends I had in college and wanting to know more about their faith in God (I recognized they had something within that I lacked). So, out of the blue, with no invitation or encouragement from anyone, I up and visited a local Presbyterian church. I was disappointed in the message, though. Even though I knew next to nothing about Bible, I recognized something wasn't right about the sermon. It didn't scratch where I itched.

A friend in school then invited me to a church he attended on Sunday mornings. I don't remember for sure, but I think it was a Presbyterian church as well. However, unlike the first church I attended, the preacher spoke as though he had a message from God to deliver. I don't remember much of the sermon, but I think the general theme was thanksgiving. What I do remember very clearly was him saying, on the basis of Matthew 6:21, "Where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Where is your treasure?" This last question drilled right into my heart. I couldn't stop asking myself, "where is my treasure, after all?" I knew it wasn't in heaven, and that that wasn't right.

Within a few months' time, after more study and after hearing more good preaching (though at a different church, because I soon moved from Kentucky to Missouri), I became a believer in Christ. As I think about that Sunday, though, I am struck by a couple of things. First, it is fascinating to me that of all he said in the sermon, it was one simple question that took hold in my heart. It wasn't even the gospel itself, but a word that spoke to my conscience and was instrumental in leading me to accept the gospel. Every sermon should center on Christ and the gospel, of course, but God may take one truth or one question and use it to speak to a sinner's heart. Second, I am reminded by the power of preaching. I don't think reading the same words would have had the same effect. There is just no replacement for the preaching of God's Word.