Rhythm of Rest: Do the Heart Work

This verse comes to my mind frequently as I go through life.  I love the imagery of it - an armed soldier protecting this place of importance - and the waterfall cascading down from this private place whose water tastes of that person’s priorities and values.  

When we prioritize choices in our lives, it speaks of what means the most to us.  “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also,” Matthew 6:21 reminds us.   If I spend my evening washing dishes or floors, it may reveal that cleanliness is high up on my priority chart in life.  If I spend the morning writing cards and e-mailing friends with encouragement, then connection and friendship may be what my heart holds most dear and valuable.

The story Rebekah Lyons shares in her chapter on this topic honestly reveals her sudden awareness of how she had been self absorbed in her career and had missed out on precious moments with her young children.  The various photographs that her husband had taken of their children and her many years previously had visually shown her the priorities that she had chosen on that particular fall day.

The take-away from the story was the questions that she began to ask herself:

• What do I need to confess?

• What do I need to release?

• What do I need to change?

I think that no matter where our priorities lie or what our values are, we need to be completely honest with ourselves about whether those things are allowing our treasure to radiate with its beautiful aura or whether some adjustments might be necessary in what we hold most dear.

Ask yourself where your priorities are, where your time is spent, and what you treasure, and think about whether those accurately define who you are as a child of Christ.  Perhaps confession, release, and change will sprout from realizing that your energy in life is being devoted to things that don’t reflect the values that you wish your life to demonstrate and display.