Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Have you ever heard someone say, “My heart just isn’t into it”? And what about you? Have you ever said it, or at least thought it? I assume the answer is yes.

It might be that someone asks you to serve on a committee of some sort in your community. You think about it, but you don’t really have a passion for the task or maybe even for the organization that made the request. Your heart just isn’t into it.

One of the things every nonprofit leader and college president has to do is raise money. I can’t count the number of times that the person across from me either says or sends the body language that suggests their heart just isn’t into it. Sometimes a donor will say, “This just isn’t my interest or where I am directing my giving.”

So the question we must wrestle with is, where is my heart? What is my heart into? In Luke 12:22-44, Jesus told his disciples not to be anxious about their lives. Specifically, he outlined the basics of life: what we eat, caring for our body, and even what we wear. Jesus told his disciples that just like the Father provides for the birds, he will also provide for us.

Jesus then pointed out that birds don’t have a storehouse or barn to stockpile food. They must depend on what God provides daily to survive. The best I can tell based on the sounds of birds every morning around my house, the birds are faring well. The woods around by house and the pasture I see out back is also doing fine. Jesus told his disciples that if the birds and the plants are cared for, then shouldn’t we expect that those created in his own image would also be cared for by the Father?

In one sentence, Jesus took the disciples from scarcity to abundance. He told them what is also meant for us: focus on God’s kingdom over stuff, and God will take care of the stuff that is essential for us to live. And then Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Not some scraps. Not old worn-out supplies. But the kingdom of God. And apparently not just one day later, but the opportunity to enjoy the abundance of the Father’s kingdom even now!

Then comes this bold instruction. I don’t even want to say it because it sounds so extreme: “Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” Now hold on, Jesus. Sell everything? Give everything? If I sell everything, won’t I just become one of the needy?

Jesus might just be saying that if we are serious about seeking him and his kingdom then we do indeed have to surrender that we are needy. Our greatest need is God. Jesus ended this session with his disciples with this cautionary word: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Consider again that phrase we often hear and sometimes think or say: “My heart just isn’t into it.”

Lord, we are convicted because we know that our hearts aren’t always in the right place. We strive and pursue our interests, our pleasures, our hobbies, our possessions, and on and on, thinking that you won’t notice or care. Forgive us. Today we choose to make our focus you and your kingdom. We surrender our lives to you. Use us and the gifts you have given us to meet the needs of others, that we might spread the good news of your kingdom in word and deed. In Jesus’ name, amen.