The Bible often speaks about treasures, and how the human heart is influenced by what it yearns to have.

Joshua 6 tells us that God caused the city of Jericho to fall into the hands of the Israelites. However, in Chapter 7, Israel was defeated by Ai because of a sin committed by a man named Achan.

Joshua found the culprit who caused Israel’s downfall, who made his confession in Joshua 7:20-21b:

“And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted and took them.”

The process of how we treasure things in life usually starts off quite innocently.

Achan first saw the beautiful spoils. They caught his attention. But notice that he did not stop after looking – Achan began to covet what he saw in his heart.

This meant that Achan yearned for the spoils after entertaining thoughts about secretly enjoying them for himself, which was against God’s command. So Achan acted upon the desire of his heart.

What we see can affect the heart in a deep way when we keep thinking about it. The second glance that causes my heart to stir in ungodly ways is something that needs to be avoided.

I need to submit the things I see to God in prayer constantly, and ask Him to guard my heart. I must check the condition of my heart in light of the Word and align it with God’s will. Because it’s so easy to become trapped by the unwanted “treasures” in our hearts, which happens when we focus on the wrong things.

“But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved.” (Hosea 9:10b)

The Israelites became like the detestable thing they loved. What a frightening thought!

Fixating on the wrong treasures in life will eventually consume me. This led me to be more mindful about what I think of daily – unwholesome thoughts that come to my mind must be taken captive and submitted to God.

This is why Paul writes in Philippians 4:8:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

A person who has found his or her treasure in Christ will have learnt to be a contented person in whatever situation they are. So the treasures of my heart will be displayed in the things I choose to do, how I live my life and the words I use.

How am I developing my heart to daily seek the true treasure in Christ? In my journey to contentment in Christ, my utmost treasure, there’s still a long way to go.

Will you join me in this journey?

This article was first published on Yio Chu Kang Chapel’s website and is republished with permission.