There is a delightful story about a father who gave his little daughter a silver dollar to put into her piggy bank. She excitedly ran off to her room to ‘deposit’ the coin. However, in a few minutes she returned and handed the silver coin back to her father.
“Daddy,” she said sadly, “Here’s your dollar back. I can’t get it into my bank.”
“Why not?” Her concerned father asked.
“It’s too full,” she said, obviously disappointed.
Her father accompanied her back to her room, and sure enough, her bank was too full to accept even one more coin. It was filled with pennies.
Sometimes our lives can be like that bank, so full of small things that there is no room for the truly important things. It has been said that many people fail in life because they major in minor things. Jim Rohn once commented, “We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things, than we can to spend minor time on major things.”
Have we filled our piggy bank with so many pennies that we have no room for the silver dollars? What is it that takes up our time each day? Are we so busy doing things that are not important that there is no time left for what we should be doing? Do we find time to read the newspaper everyday but have no time for the Bible readings? Do we have time to talk on the phone to our friends but no time to talk to God in prayer? Do we spend time on the computer but have no time to visit the sick?
Are we majoring in minor things? At the end of each day, we will have lived every last second and minute of it. What did we accomplish? What did we do during the day that will have any lasting value? At the start of each new day, we have the happy responsibility to lay up a treasure for the day. When we come to the end of the day, what did we put into the piggy bank?
Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” What good treasure are we depositing?
Jesus connects our treasure with our words. What is inside comes out. If we major in minor things, then these minor things will be the topic of our conversations. On the other hand, if we have majored in things of lasting value and if we have spent our days serving the Lord, our thoughts and actions will reflect this godly direction and it will be well pleasing to our Heavenly Father.
Making daily deposits to our spiritual bank account does not eliminate the need to take care of the tasks of daily life. Paul warned the Thessalonians that if a man does not work, neither should he eat. However, the focus of our life should not be centered on this world’s wealth.
James tells us, “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” From this we learn that the type of treasure that we have put into our bank will be examined by the Lord at the last day.
Our investment is safe if we have made our deposits in heavenly things. Let’s not major in minor things but rather seek first the kingdom of God. Let us focus our efforts on making worthwhile deposits to our spiritual bank account because as Jesus told us, “He that layeth up treasure for himself, is not rich toward God.”
Jesus also said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you, for on him has God the Father set his seal.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One