Precious Cargo

PRECIOUS CARGO

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

Recently, my teenage daughter and I were driving in our truck on the highway, following my husband and the rest of our kids who were in the van. As I gazed at this van in front of us, it suddenly occurred to me what it held inside. This van carried irreplaceably precious cargo that meant more to me than any material goods in my life. Although our van is large, it was a bit overwhelming to realize the immensity of what was inside its relatively small area, traveling down the highway at 70 miles per hour. My earthly treasures were indeed inside that fifteen passenger van. Eleven souls that meant so much to me - my husband and ten of our kids. No price could be placed on the contents of that van - the cargo was much too precious for that.

As I was thinking of this, my thoughts traveled back over 19 years, to another vehicle that held all of my earthly treasure. In 1987, my husband and I were relocating from one state to another so that he could start his first professional level job. We had been married nine years at this point and had no children.

The moving was physically very difficult, as we encountered a heavy snowstorm on the way. One of us was driving a large U Haul truck, pulling a car behind, while the other drove a car. A 13 hour drive turned into a very stressful 25 hour drive.

I distinctly remember, as we came out of the hotel one morning, looking at the truck and realizing that all of our worldly goods were packed into it. That thought seemed overwhelming at the time, as I wondered what we would do if someone came by and stole the truck. At that time, this seemed like the worst thing that could have happened to us.

I am so thankful for how God has changed my perspective on life in these last 19 years. He has taken me and my husband around the world and through some very difficult times, but in the process I have discovered that having lost that truck of worldy goods might have actually been a healthy occurrence for me. At that point in my life, my treasures were ones which could have been easily destroyed. By God’s grace, the treasures in my life today are ones that I can take with me after this life! The load in that fifteen passenger van was indeed worth so very much more than the goods packed into that U Haul truck, so many years ago.