Dragon Treasure

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Oh boy.

I know this verse well. I've heard it my entire life. But when Mom read it to us yesterday morning, she brought up a new connection. Dragons.

Now, I love fantasy stories, and especially fantasy allegories, so I love finding ways to express Scriptural ideas in a way more easily understood, specifically through fantasy. Like dragons.

Mom pointed out that dragons typically have a hoard of treasure. And they guard it. Sleep on it. Fight for it. A dragon's heart is with its treasure. Think Smaug. (Or for you poor people who have no acquaintance with The Hobbit, think about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader--Eustace turned into a dragon because of his desire for the dragon's treasure. If you haven't read that book, I'm sorry I ruined it, but you'll have to come up with your own example.)

A good way to find out where your heart is, is to look at what you're fighting for. In other words, what turns you into a dragon? I know for me, it's often not what it should be. I can tend to pile up earthly treasure instead of heavenly treasure. But that's not how it should be.

Now, how do we store up treasure in heaven? If that's what we're supposed to do, we should find out how, right?

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' " Matthew 25:34-40

Do you understand what I'm trying to say? 

I think there is certainly more than one way to store up treasure in heaven, but the one I thought of first is giving up our earthly treasure. Of course, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy our privilege of having plenty, but we definitely shouldn't hoard stuff like a dragon! The treasure we gather here has no value outside of this life, and though it doesn't always feel like it, time is such a small part of eternity! If we're willing to let go of our treasure, will God not bless us with even more? Even if we don't see a direct compensation, we will be rewarded with treasure in heaven. It is our inheritance. 

When we give of ourselves and our resources to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. He gave up everything to give us life. He associated with us when, in an eternal view, such association would be shameful. He is holy; we are far from it! Our goal in life should be to be like Jesus. How can we do that if we're acting like dragons, hoarding our treasure and fighting to protect it from everyone else? It doesn't work. To receive treasure in heaven, we must give up our treasure here. 

I was reading a book called Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court, the second in The Knights of Arrethtrae series. It's about a knight who gave up his wealth and standing to live as a peasant and help people in need. The village he's living in is led by a nobleman completely consumed with greed and love of stuff. It's his downfall. He's so busy guarding his treasure that he never recognizes the desperate need of people around him. I don't want to be like that. Ever. But at the same time, it's so much easier to take care of yourself than to help others. To guard your treasure instead of using it for good. 

Another thing I've been thinking about is making habits. I've seen and heard it all over the place recently, and judging from my own failure in setting a writing habit, I know any good habit will take time and hard work to establish (unfortunately, the bad ones seem to just fall into place). I want to make a habit of giving my heart to Jesus, and letting my treasure be with Him. It's not going to be easy. I'll probably fail at different times along the way. But I think it's an adventure worth pursuing. I'd love company, if you want to come along. 

Where's your treasure? 

 Or

With the King of Kings?

Randomness and The Hobbit

I feel like posting something fun. I haven't done that in a while. Unfortunately, most of what I can think of to post is more on the serious side. I'd thought about doing a review on The Hobbit (yes, I went to see it! Saturday! :D) but all I really have to say is "I loved it, I certainly recommend it, it's not exactly like the book, but I don't care and I can't wait for the next one to come out!" So, yeah. That wouldn't make much of a review. I could rant about all the parts I loved though, if anyone wanted to hear it.

Umm... that's pretty much the exciting thing of the week. I have a really awesome piano song that makes practicing slightly more enjoyable (it's from the Kingdom Series & Knights of Arrethtrae song book-- I love it!) but The Hobbit is still the highlight of the past week. I think. I don't really remember everything that happened. Avery and I watched Iron Man 2 last night, it was OK, The Hobbit is way better :). And we did some fun things with friends this week. That was nice :).

Sooo... I suppose I should collect my thoughts a little and post something slightly comprehensible.

Gah, forget it, it's been five minutes and nothing better has come to mind, so I'm just going to tell you all about what I liked in The Hobbit :D. Before I start, I apologize to all you poor people who have never experienced the awesomeness of the book, because I'm not going to explain the entire plot, I'm just going to talk about what I liked. But if after this you consider watching the movie (for those who haven't) READ THE BOOK FIRST!!!

:D Anyway, there were some parts that were almost exactly like the book (up to the lines and everything--it made me very happy ^_^) Namely, the beginning up until the trolls and 'riddles in the dark'. The troll scene wasn't exactly like the book, but it was SO hilarious and it really helped build Bilbo's character. I also liked some of the history they added at the beginning, but what made it really awesome was that they never showed the whole Smaug! Now whenever Bilbo first sees him in the next one (I think) it's going to be so cool! :D 

Before I get carried away, I'll tell you about some of my favorite characters. I liked Bilbo, of course, and Gandalf and Thorin (who is an awesome character, by the way-- I like complicated characters). My favorite dwarves (besides Thorin) were Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Balin. The first three had great senses of humor :) and Balin is just really wise and he knows all about the history and stuff. And he's nice. 

I've heard a lot of people complaining about how they added stuff and changed stuff (mostly from The Silmarillion or the appendices of LOTR). I personally like having an idea of what else is going on at the same time (actually I went and read it in the Silmarillion when we were reading The Hobbit). No, it's not exactly like the book. Yes, the Pale Orc is supposed to be dead (he's Thorin's main enemy in the movie). But I don't really care. I'm not expecting any movie made off of a good book to be anywhere as good as the book (although The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe came close). There's just so much stuff in a book (especially a Tolkien book) that you just can't put in a movie. So to me, the added stuff was kind of like how it was for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I like the movie, I like the book better, but I don't think the added/changed stuff took away from the story (and you know me, the story is the important part :) ) even if it did make it different. Basically, it didn't bother me that much. 

Ok, one last thing, I LOVED the scene where the dwarves are all singing (at Bag End, before they leave)!!!! It was incredible! I had chills all over! SO cool! 

So, like I said before, I highly recommend it. Some of the action might be a little scary, but it's not too bad. If for some reason you watch it and hate it, I don't want to hear about it, because you won't be able to make me agree with you. I can't wait for part 2! :D

Oh, and here's a link to the trailers. Just 'cause :). 

http://www.thehobbit.com/#content=video&section=moment&media=trailer_1 

Time

This is officially my first post in the year 2013. (Cool, huh?) But time goes so quickly! I can't believe 2012 has already come and gone. Time really does get faster as you get older. Seriously, when I was ten a week felt like FOREVER, but now it's just like, 'wait, what happened to my whole week?!' *Sigh* Oh well.

I was going to go somewhere else with this, but I think I'll stay focused on time for a little longer here. Yesterday, our pastor preached on Ephesians 5:15-17 (which I am not going to post here, so you'll have to look it up yourself). It talks about 'making the most of your time' or 'making the most of every opportunity' (depending on the version). I think for me that means taking time to develop my relationships with family and friends, but also being attentive to the opportunities God gives me to help anyone around me, including people I don't know. I need to be 'interruptible'. Part of my personality is very appreciative of structure and schedule, so I am not always (*cough*often*cough*) open to stopping in the middle of my school day to help one of my siblings with something. I want to change that, to be ready for the opportunities, waiting for them to come and recognizing them when they do. Yes, it'll take time and practice, but I don't want to waste my life. I was thinking this morning about what I would what it might look like if I lived each day as if it were my last. How would I treat people? What would I do differently? What would I focus on? I think I'm far too often focused on what I want and what I need to get done, but I'm afraid I often miss opportunities to help and encourage my siblings and friends. Most days I'm so focused on getting everything done that it would never occur to me to take a few minutes to e-mail a note of encouragement to someone or ask my sisters or brother if they need help with anything. I'd like to adjust my priorities. Make the most of my time.

But school is important too. I can't just drop everything even if it's with good intentions or for a good reason. Every day is not necessarily my last, and school is part of God's plan for me right now. However, maybe I could let go of finishing 'early' every day and give some of my time to, say, playing with my siblings and spending time with them. Isn't it interesting that we value time so much, but are so rarely generous with it?

One more thing, related to (can you guess?) writing. I believe God has called me to something with writing stories, and yet I spend so little time on it. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but one thing I decided I want to do this year/semester is get into a more consistent habit of writing. It's been pretty pathetic so far. But I'm working on it. It's hard not to fall back into the old and easy habits, but I want to make an effort. I know stories impact people, and if I never write mine down, they can't do that. Back to that 'if this were my last day' thing, if I know today were my last day, I would spend a huge chunk of time writing down my stories, because I think God's given them to me for a reason and I want to share them. Of course, I can't spend the whole day writing (even if I wanted to) but I can make it a goal to write something every day. I'm going to try. If y'all wouldn't mind cheering me on and getting on my nerves until I do it, I'd appreciate it :).