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Good afternoon brethren. It’s good to see all of you.

We’ll start today with a pretty broad question. A very broad question, actually. What matters? What matters? Another way of asking it,what’s important to you? What’s important to me? These questions are also directed at me, but for the sake of asking the question, what’s important to you? Another way of asking it might be, what’s valuable to you? Or more specifically, what do you value most? Very central questions to life.

Value is defined in the dictionary, this happens to be Oxford, as the regard that something is held to deserve. The importance, worth, or usefulness of something. If I need to tighten a screw, I value a screwdriver, even though it might not be very expensive. You know, a lot of us have wetting rings on our hands. There’s the value of the precious metal, and then there’s the value attached to its meaning. What it symbolizes. The regard that something is held to deserve the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.

Now, in life, humans tend to undervalue certain things and overvalue certain things. Like someone could place a lot of emphasis on watching a TV show and not enough emphasis on, for instance, a relationship. Undervalue and overvalue. Life is a lot about how we value things. The value we assign to different things. Assigning correct value is very important to God. We’ll see that.

Turn to Leviticus nineteen. In the physical sense, it’s very easy to understand. Leviticus chapter nineteen, verse thirty-five. God says, “You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment.” Think about judgment. It’s seeing something for what it is. “You’ll do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure, just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, you shall have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.” We’ll see a little more specifically this concept of just weights here in a minute. “Therefore, you shall observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, to do them: I am the Lord.”

You know, if a scale is off balance, one party is cheated. Imagine going to the grocery store and you buy three onions and you put them on the scale, and it rings up at seventeen pounds. Now, we have in Ohio, and I’m sure there are similar government bodies all throughout the world, the division of weights and measures. Anytime you go to the... go pump gas, you see on there, inspected by the auditor, or whoever it is, the auditor for the division of weights and measures or whatever it may be called locally. They ensure that you’re getting a gallon of gas when you pay for a gallon of gas. Now, in this digital age, that’s a little easier, but historically, it was a big deal.

Deuteronomy twenty-five, as we continue to set up the subject here. Deuteronomy twenty-five, verse thirteen, “You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, a great and a small.” So historically, the way a scale works, probably pretty familiar to most all of us, but you have two pans, and if they have the same weight in both, they balance out. So, you’d have a weight, call it a pound, a rock that weighed a pound. If you put a pound of grain on the other side, they balance out. But historically, you could cheat somebody by having, say, a rock that actually weighs nine-tenths of a pound but says a pound on it. God says, don’t do that.

“You shall not have in your bag diverse weights.” You can’t assign value to something that it doesn’t actually equal that value, great and small. “You shall not have in your house diverse measures, a great and a small, but you shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall you have: that your days may be lengthened in the land.” Big deal to God. He attaches physical life to it. “Do this that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God gives you. For all that do such things and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord your God.”

Very important to God that we assign correct value to, in this case, physical things. Valuation must be accurate. A roommate and I, he’s sitting in this room, used to enjoy watching programs where you have these pickers as they’re called go from town to town and look at this old item and say, “Oh, this is worth a lot of money, or somebody maybe has an item that they thought was worth a lot of money that ends up being a piece of trash. Very important to discern what’s valuable from what’s not valuable. Proverbs sixteen. God takes it personally. Proverbs sixteen eleven.

“A just weight...” Proverbs sixteen eleven, “...and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.” He says He specifically creates the just weights so that fairness can be meted out in business. Chapter twenty, just two more on this physical side of the equation as we establish a foundation. Chapter twenty and verse ten. “Diverse weights, and diverse measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” So, He says, “I make the just weights, but the unjust weights that people use to cheat others in business, that people use to incorrectly assign value to things are an abomination.”

In verse twenty-three of the same chapter here, “Diverse weights are abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.” It’s pretty plain, not good. It speaks about false weights and the prophets. We won’t go over there. Now, brethren, you and I, none of us are carrying around weighted scales. Or are we? None of us has, you know, a false weight to deceive anyone with in the physical sense, but are we carrying around weighted scales?

If we think of it in terms of the mind, we’ll delve into this because life is really about assigning value to various things that matter and don’t matter. If you think about it, that is what fundamentally drives life. We assign a weight to something, and we act on what we esteem that something to be or we say that’s insignificant, that’s not important. We don’t devote much time or attention or resources to it. It’s really that simple. It’s all about assigning value, but it’s not as cut and dried as, say, ground beef is six dollars a pound or potatoes are a dollar a pound or a box of cereal is five dollars.

Very rudimentary, easy to understand in the physical sense, but it’s a bit more complex when you move beyond the physical, when you apply it to life as a whole. I have an article here from medium.com, quote briefly from it. “What matters most determines the course of your life.” Is the title of the article. I find it very instructive based on what we’re starting to talk about, what we will talk about today. And the first subhead is, “Are you living in alignment with your values?”

“Life is a funny thing.” This lady writes, “One moment you’re crawling on all fours and sucking your thumb, the next you’re rushing through the workday just to pay the bills. Before you know it, you’re sitting in a rocking chair, staring at the sunset, wondering where all the time went. But here’s the thing, whether you’re crawling, rushing, or rocking, there’s one constant that’s always guiding you and determining the course of your life, and that constant is your values,” she writes.

Now before you roll your eyes, hear me out. I’m not going to tell you that you need to find your passion or follow your dreams. You know, all these kind of buzz phrases or anything like that. I’m going to tell you something much more simple and important. The last paragraph here I’ll read starts with a subhead, “Your values are what matter most in your life.” Think about it. Everything you do, every decision you make, and every action you take is based on what you value in your life. Your values determine what you want, what you pursue, and what you prioritize at all times. They shape your relationships, career, hobbies, beliefs, and goals. They even influence your health, happiness, and well-being.

Now, animals do all this instinctively. I remember being at one of the brethren’s houses, she’s in this room, maybe fifteen years ago, and I had a piece of pizza on a plate in my lap and her dog just came up. We had a gathering with people and just I was not paying attention. I was talking. It just swiped the piece of pizza right off my plate. The dog was hungry. It valued food. It got the food. Very, very easy. But when you add the human mind to the equation, many values factor into the decision. Is that my piece of pizza? How would that person feel if I just came up and brazenly stole their piece of pizza?

You know, does that pizza have pepperoni on it, we might ask if we were willing to blow through the commandment not to steal. No, I’m kidding, of course. But is that healthy for me? You know, am I avoiding carbs right now? Humans come up with all manner of questions based on their values. It’s not as cut and dried as instinct. So, brethren, God wants us again to accurately assign value to everything in life. Some of it happens on a subconscious level. He’s very precise.

He wants us to accurately assign value to everything, just like He wants accurate values assigned within the very easy-to-understand example of just weights and measures, where you’re measuring out products to sell or buy with a scale. Our values are all important. They shape what we believe and do, and ultimately, if we’ll make it as Christians, if we’ll make it into the kingdom of God, if we’ll receive eternal life. So, let’s look at some of the things, but by no means, all of them, some of the things that God wants us to value.

Valuation is important to him. Certainly, He has a lot to say about what we should value. Very simple subject, easy to understand, but what does God want us to value? What does He want us focused on? What does He want driving our lives? What matters? What do we value if I can go back to some of those early questions?

Now, before we delve into some specifics, this is a very, very serious matter this matter. We’re not talking about potatoes or gold on a scale or any of those other examples we might have brought up. We’re talking about life and death decisions that you and I make. Here’s one of the most grievous misevaluations under valuations in all of history right here, recorded in Matthew. Matthew twenty-seven. How bad can it get if the scales of our mind are not working correctly? How bad can it get?

Matthew twenty-seven. It’s truly a life and death matter in the grand scheme of things. Verse three, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him...” Matthew twenty-seven, three, “...when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders...” So, some money brought into the equation here. It’s typically how we rate, value money. “...saying I’ve sinned and that I’ve betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, ‘What is that to us? See you to it.’ And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself, realized he’d made a mistake. And the chief priest took the silver pieces, and said, it’s not lawful to put them in the treasury, because it’s the price of blood.

And they took counsel, and bought with them the potters field, to bury the strangers in, where for the field was called the field of blood, unto this day, then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy, the prophet saying, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued.’” They valued a God being at thirty pieces of silver. Stunning lack of clarity of thought, stunning blindness on a spiritual level, even on a human level. “The price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value.” That’s what they thought a God being was worth. A God being that was willing to die for all of mankind. “And gave them for the potter’s field as the Lord appointed me,” they did not accurately assess the value of Christ’s life.

And for Judas it ended very badly. Now, before we go thinking, “That can never happen to me. I’d never be put in a position like that.” Let’s see what Paul says in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter ten. It’s very possible for that very thing to happen to us. It wouldn’t be transported back in time two thousand years, but it’s been happening for two thousand years, if I can put it that way.

Hebrews ten verse twenty-six, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth...” Hebrews ten, twenty-six, “...there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’s law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who is trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted, valued the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified.”

Every one of us who’s been baptized has entered that covenant, we’re sanctified by that sacrifice. “Wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and is done despite to the spirit of grace? For we know him that said, vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people.” It’s possible, may it never happen to any of us, but it’s possible to lose sight of the value of what we’ve been handed. Once that happens, if we let ourselves go too far and don’t repent, the consequences are disastrous. We have to accurately assess the value of what we’ve been given. Now, it doesn’t just happen all of a sudden, you know, that Ecclesiastes are filled with admonitions, you know, enjoy the good of your labor. Enjoy what you find to do, but know that you’ll come into judgment. There has to be balance with what we pursue in life, and that’s what we’ll be talking about.

It can be very easy to get caught up in distractions. God wants us to enjoy life. There are many fine hobbies and activities and ways to use our time, but they can never become distractions from where we’re ultimately going. Mark chapter four, Mark four. So, we’ve established how important values are. We’re establishing how having the wrong values can permanently derail us on this awesome journey we’re on, from this awesome journey we’re on.

And we’ll talk about what kind of values can absolutely ensure that we make it in the long run because that’s what God has planned, and He knows each and every one of us can do it and will supply us with what we need to do it. Mark chapter four, verse ten, “And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.” He’s explaining the parable of the Sower and the seed here. “And He said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables,” hide the knowledge from them.

He wants us to understand and regardless of where some of these parables apply within prophecy, they can all teach us deep lessons. There are lessons inherent within this living word, no matter where we are in the timeline of things, “that seeing they may see and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins forgiven them. And He said unto them, know you not this parable? And how then will you know all parables?”

A very fundamental parable he sang. Very important that we take it to heart. “And these are they by the wayside... The Sower sows the word...” Verse fourteen, “...and these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Now if we’re here, we’ve managed largely to evade that.

“And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; and when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises, when the going gets tough, when those trials that absolutely come our way come, they’re immediately offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world...” There’s a lot to care about in this world.

There’s a lot to distract us. There’s a lot to focus on. There’s much that can derail our pursuit, “...and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches...” That’s a big one. We’ll loop back around to that later, but money is a God to, I’d say, most people, especially in the Western nations. The deceitfulness of riches, they’re inherently deceitful. We can place too much emphasis on them. We can overvalue them. We can think too highly of them. The deceitfulness of riches, but that’s not the only thing.

Here is an all-encompassing statement from Christ about distractions. “...the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things.” Other things pretty much covers it. Anything that we’re willing to allow to pull us from the path we’re on can do the following, “choke the word, and it can become unfruitful in us”. A grave warning. “Then there are those which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and a hundred.” That’s our hope to grow, but again, regardless of specific applications of these parables, they teach us deep things. We want to grow, and we want to grow a lot.

Now that we have a foundation establishing how important values are to our lives, how we should mediate, frankly, on how important they are, and how they make all the difference, how central they are to life, we’ll delve into the first value here. The first value. You could probably guess what it is. Mathew six and verse thirty-three.

God doesn’t leave to our imagination what is most central. He doesn’t leave us to come up with what’s most valuable in life. He explicitly tells us, not just because we’re the weak of the world, but because He has a plan for every human being within and without the church right now. He wants this at the forefront, ultimately, of every human being’s mind. Mathew six, thirty-three, “But seek you first...” First, meaning above all else. “...the kingdom of God, and his righteousness...” Two things, the kingdom and God’s character.

We know that entering the kingdom is entering the God family, partaking of his character, partaking of what Peter called... I believe it was Peter, ‘his divine nature’. They’re inextricably intertwined, entering the kingdom and obtaining God’s character, obtaining His righteousness. “...and all these things shall be added to you.” Some physical things listed above.

Mathew chapter thirteen, what does he liken the kingdom of God here to, in Mathew chapter thirteen and verse forty-four? If we’re to seek it first, it’s got to be all-important. It’s the bowl game, if I can use the vernacular. Mathew thirteen and verse forty-four, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.” Treasure is very, very valuable. People will do all manner of things in pursuit of it. “Treasure hid in a field; which when a man is found, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field,” so that he can obtain the treasure. He’s willing to use all his resources to get this field full of treasure.

Verse forty-five, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.” Something of great value. Value, that’s our subject. “Who, when he has found one pearl of great price...” he knows how precious that pearl is likened to the kingdom of God, is willing to part with everything to obtain it. Went and sold all that he had, was willing to give up everything else to buy it and bought it. “...seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Number one value in life.

Do we keep, brethren, at the forefront of our minds, the excitement that this is just temporary? This body, this carnal body that we’re in. You know, the older you get, doesn’t matter your age, it starts to break down. You start to realize; I can’t be in this body for eternity. I need a new one if I’m going to even want to live on, if I can put it that way. That we’re in a temporary shell. That we’re in pursuit of eternity. That we are going to be in the kingdom of God. We talk a lot about the kingdom of God, but do we really meditate and make real that this existence is just temporary? It’s like we’re at school waiting for graduation and then who knows what comes after that. It’s very temporary in the grand scheme of things. It’s just a proving ground or a testing ground.

John chapter three. If this is what we’re to value most, I would suggest that we should think about it a lot. That that’s what Christ would’ve wanted us to do when He uttered Matthew six, thirty-three, but here we are in John three. “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him.” At least had that level of understanding, but he was very confused about a point.

“Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily I say unto you, except a man be born again, he can’t see the kingdom of God.” He can’t attain that most important thing. He can’t enter what is most valuable except he be born again. “Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he’s old?’” He couldn’t comprehend that a complete overhaul, a total transformation was on the horizon. He’d never been explained. This had never been explained to him. How can a man be born when he’s old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Nicodemus didn’t understand what it meant to enter the kingdom of God.

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can’t enter the kingdom of God.” If we’re seeking first this kingdom, that transformation should daily be on our minds when we will escape this temporary existence. Ephesians chapter one. Think about that man who found that treasure in the hid field. I guarantee you, it was at the forefront of his mind all the time, or that man who was selling all that he had to get that pearl. Oh, he had that gold fever that the forty-niners who went west were known to have. He valued it.

Ephesians one, verse fifteen, “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you,” Paul wrote the Ephesians, “making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” This knowledge has to be revealed.

Nicodemus had to have explained to him that he had to be born again if he was going to enter the kingdom of God. Christ had to reveal that knowledge to him. Coming off of verse seventeen here. Verse eighteen. “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of this calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance with the saints.” It’s an amazing calling we’ve been called to. The riches, the glory that are coming our way are within grasp, but only if we value that kingdom of God above all else, because valuing it, it will drive our decisions.

Going back to that article read earlier, verse nineteen, “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.”

That which is to come is a kingdom that we’re seeking first. Regardless of how we think of iterations or anything like that, we’re entering the God family. That’s what we’re seeking first. And his righteousness, of course. That which is to come. Five words that have titanic meaning. That which is to come. Do we meditate on it regularly? Do we think on it? Do we strive for it? Do we yearn for it?

“And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that fills all in all.” You know, men want eternal life. Human beings want eternal life. You look at Silicon Valley and the things they’re doing in pursuit of it, putting chips in their heads and drinking potions and crickets and all this trash. It’s just unbelievable what they’re willing to do in pursuit of eternal life, in pursuit of longevity, I should say.

The ones who are lofty enough to think they can actually achieve eternal life through science are the real quacks. But the ones who are just trying to prolong their lives, you look at some of the things that they do, these bio-hacks and... it’s in man to want to live forever. It is in man to want to perpetually exist, but we’ve been given the path. How often do we meditate on that treasure? How often do we really think about what it is we’ve been offered?

Second Corinthians four. I’m sure we do, but it is what we are to value most. We can all do it more. Second Corinthians four, verse seven. Second Corinthians four, seven, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” You know, God gave us these temporary shells, these earthen vessels, these mortal bodies so that we’d realize, you know, we’re not God yet, but he gives us treasure. He gives us his spirit. He gives us his knowledge and his earthen vessels.

“We’re troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we’re perplexed, but not in despair; because we hold on to that thing we seek first. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” Elsewhere, Paul said, “I die daily.” Now, I’m striving to put away this fleshly existence moving toward an eternal permanent existence, daily.

“The dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body, for which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’s sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So, then death works in us, but life in you. We are having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore I’ve spoken; we also believe, and thereof speak; knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us also up by Jesus, and shall present us with you.”

To focus too much on the temporary and the physical is to lose sight of what’s going to happen to us, and very soon. “...shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” We draw closer day by day. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

God says it in a number of ways. He wants us to value it. He wants to tell us what it is we can… in terms we can comprehend as humans, “You don’t want to miss out on this.” That’s what He’s saying. He calls it treasure. He calls it hid-treasure. He calls it pearls. He calls it riches. He calls it exceeding weight of glory. He calls it eternal weight of glory. Excuse me, eternal weight of glory, here. Exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Some of His most articulate servants tried to explain to us, like Paul here, what it is we’re in pursuit of. He didn’t ever want the brethren, He doesn’t ever want us to lose sight of that, because we’re seeking first the kingdom of God. We value the kingdom of God above all else. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…” We’re focused on what’s out there, what we know is coming. “…for the things which are seen are temporal…” temporary, everything we see in this fleshly existence. “…but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

What we can’t see with our eyes are more stable and permanent than what we can see. Really amazing. Chapter five. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven.” A new body. Nothing is worth the trade. “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened...”

And I would dare say that the longer we’ve been in this way or the older we are in life, we’ve groaned all the more, being burdened. “…not for that we would be unclothed…” and how much more so us, brethren, at the end of the age, the things we have to witness on TV, and at work, and in society. We’re groaning. We want that kingdom. We want that thing that we value most, that we put above all else. Being burdened. “…not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Now he that has wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also has given us the earnest of His spirit. Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether good or bad.”

Which I would argue is based upon our values. If we value the kingdom of God, we’re going to be seeking His righteousness. It’s going to be filling our minds, the pursuit of that and what we have to do in pursuit of it, and we’ll be judged well. But if the lusts of other things, as Christ put it, other things is about as umbrella as you can get, if the lusts of other things get in the way, we’ll be judged for it. We can’t let other things derail us. We have to maintain singleness of eye and focus.

So many things can get in the way. You know, Christ spoke specifically of riches. Look at Matthew nineteen. So many things can get in the way. And if we’re not careful, we can value those things more than the kingdom of God. Now, it’s hard to imagine academically, especially after going through some of those promises regarding the kingdom and what it means for us. The tiniest smidgen of what it means to be in the kingdom of God we just looked at.

But even after going through that, some people, they lose sight. They lose sight. Matthew nineteen, here’s a man who was taught personally by Christ. Verse twenty-one. Jesus said to him, this rich young ruler, “If you’ll be perfect, go and sell that you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.” That eternal wait that hid treasure, that pearl of great price. “You’ll have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

“But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.” He said, “Well, you know, my bag of gold over here is more important actually. And though, I really like that eternal life, no. What I’ve got stowed away in the bank or at my house is more important.”

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven.’” For some reason, these physical riches, we’re all susceptible to as humans, can get in the way of proper valuation. We can put a whole bunch of physical riches on one side of the scale and eternal life, treasure in heaven on the other side of the scale, and somehow, we can be deceived through our own human nature, the devil’s influence, society’s influence, those three S’s into saying, well, that treasure, you know, or those other losts, whatever they may be, going back to Mark four, outweigh the treasure of the kingdom, outweigh what God says to value above all else.

It’s a rather amazing cork of human nature, cork of the human mind. That we can be that blind, that we can look at Christ and say, “Well, that’s worth thirty pieces of silver or I’m going to count that blood unholy.” Amazing what we as humans can get into and every one of us is susceptible to it.

So that’s the first thing, the overarching thing that we’re to value, and the second is very similar. We are to value God Himself. God Himself. Could very easily be a subpoint of that first overarching point. God has a certain estimation of our value. We see what He’s willing to give us. Turn to, we’re here in Matthew nineteen, back to chapter ten.

There are plenty of people who give God lip service. I think in Isaiah, God says that the lips of these people praise me, but their heart is far from me. Their actions don’t align with their stated values too often. It can’t be so with us. Matthew chapter ten, “God has a certain value of us.” Verse twenty-six, “Fear them not, therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, or hid that shall not be known.” And those I think who can destroy body.

“But what I tell you in darkness that speak you in light, and what you hear in ear that preach you on the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul...” Ten twenty-eight. “...but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear you not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.”

God has a certain evaluation affixed to all of us. He says that you’re far more important than my animal creation because I have big plans for you. I want you in my kingdom, to go back to that first point. I have big plans before you. “Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” So He values us, but do we correctly value Him?

Matthew twenty-two. Staying in Matthew here, chapter twenty-two. Inextricably tied to the first value we examined is the greatest commandment. Twenty-two, thirty-two, “‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. Talking with some people about the resurrection. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. But when the Pharisees had heard that he put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ “Very closely akin to seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now, heart there is the heart, the thoughts, or the feeling. So love Him with all your feelings, if we could put it that way. Your soul, the breath, that is your vitality. So with all your feelings, your vitality, your energy, and with all your mind. Mind means deep thought there, thinking on these things, thinking on what it means to please God, trying to do our best.

Now, we have obligations in life. I mean, if we’re at work all day and simply thinking about God, we’re not going to achieve a lot. This is all within balance, but do we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? Now, Christ was citing the Old Testament here, and it gives more of a window into how to love God with all our soul, heart, and mind. Deuteronomy chapter six. How do we go about achieving this? Deuteronomy six. The Ten Commandments were just given in chapter five, and it’s in chapter six that Christ was citing. It’s from chapter six that He was citing. Remember, it was the greatest commandment in the law that Sadducee asked Him about.

Deuteronomy six, one. “Now, these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, “That you might do them in the land, whether you go to possess it, that you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I commanded you and your son, your son’s son, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Hear, therefore, oh, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may increase mightily.”

Promises tied to keeping these commandments, those ten commandments just given in the previous chapter. “As the Lord God of your fathers has promised you in the land that flows with milk and honey, hear, oh, Israel, the Lord, our God, is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart. This is how you love him...” Moses is explaining. “...and you shall teach them diligently unto your children and talk to them when you sit down in your house and walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up, and you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand and they’ll be as frontlets between your eyes, and you’ll write them on the post of your house and your gate.”

Now, obeying God is all-encompassing. It is tied to this point, valuing God above all else and valuing the kingdom above all else. They’re inseparable, one from another. The rest of what we’ll talk about comes in no particular order. Some more values God places. If you turn to Second Corinthians six, “We’re the temple of the living God,” Paul said. Second Corinthians six, and verse sixteen. “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” We have the earnest of the Spirit. We have the treasure already in us, the treasure that will one day transform us into eternal God beings. Our body is very important to God. So it’s no wonder our health is very important to God.

Turn to Third John. Here’s the last living apostle in the Ephesian era. How did he greet the brethren here in his third epistle? The elder... Third John one. “The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth, beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper.” Now, of course, that’s spiritually prosper. I want you to do well in life. I want things to go well for you. “And be in health.” Very important to John that Gaius not only prosper but also be in health, even as your soul prospers.

“For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, even as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

But do we value our health? Our health plays a lot into how vital we can be, how much energy we can bring to life. Now sometimes later in life the energy wanes, that’s not of our doing, but if we’re young, do we value our health? Even if... It doesn’t matter how old we are, we can all do better.

Do we value our physical well-being? Very simple subject here, but we all have the same amount of time. We all have twenty-four hours a day, and about a third of it is occupied by sleep. Proverbs chapter six, sleep is one of the cornerstones to health, arguably one of the most important. Proverbs chapter six, it’s possible to sleep too much, and it will impact our life negatively, physically, but also in terms of our productivity.

Proverbs six, nine, “How long will you sleep, O sluggard?” Solomon asks, “When will you arise out of your sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall your poverty come as one that travails in your want as an armed man.” Chapter twenty-six. In other words, sleep too much and you don’t have enough time to produce. Proverbs twenty-six and verse fourteen. “As the door turns upon its hinges, so does the slothful upon his bed.”

Warnings about too much sleep. Everybody needs a little bit different amount. We’re not all yellow pencils. But there are also warnings about getting too little sleep. Psalm one-twenty-seven. It’s a balance. And God says if we value our health, we’ll try to strike the balance. Really, God gives us this instruction manual so that we can live successfully. Not just in this life, but for all time. He gives us these values so that we’ll act on them, and it will be well with us. We’ll prosper, generally speaking, but also be in health, to quote John.

Psalm one-twenty-seven and verse two, “It’s vain for you to rise up early and to sit up late...” Burning the candle at both ends will leave a person bone weary, miserable. “...to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he gives his beloved sleep.” He wants us to get sleep, but the right amount of sleep. Pretty simple. What about exercise? First Timothy four, another cornerstone of health. If we value our health, we’ll think on these things that God gives us to think on.

First Timothy four and verse six. “If you put the brethren and remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine where until you have obtained, but refuse profane and old wives fables and exercise yourself rather unto godliness for bodily exercise profits a little...” Profits little meaning a little while. “...but godliness is profitable unto all things.”

So the big picture is seeking godliness, His righteousness, His kingdom, putting God first. But it does say that bodily exercise profits a little and it’s easy to get a little exercise. Walking around outside, enjoying nature, getting fresh air, a brisk walk. It might not take the place of all exercise, but it’s a great start. Do we value, for instance, creation that God has given us to appreciate and to exercise in, in this sense? “…but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.”

And my mother takes health very seriously. When she was a thirteen-year-old girl, a birthday keeper, of course, but on her thirteenth birthday, she determined she was going to live another one hundred years. And she still lives that way to this day. She used to wake up and go to the gym at, I think, three-thirty in the morning when I was a kid. And that’s, I mean, well, it’s unbalanced in my mind, but it’s her choice, her schedule, of course, but she takes her sleep very seriously, takes her health very seriously. She’s allergic to shellfish. So she’s got that going for her, even though she’s not in the truth. But you can shape your health and it’ll pay dividends. It’ll pay real dividends.

I just pulled up a list of the benefits of exercise. Here are the top benefits of regular exercise, according to Healthline, happiness, weight management, muscles and bones, strengthen them, of course, energy levels, chronic disease, skin health, brain and memory, sleep, pain reduction, help with all that. It’s a real panacea. If it was sold in a bottle, people would take it all day long, but it takes a little bit of effort, but it profits for a little while. Something we have to do routinely if we want to profit from it.

God designed us to move. And if we have sedentary jobs or if we battle genetics, it might be harder, but John wants us to be in good health. It’s something we’re to value, something we can work on in the little time we have. All of these areas integrate. God over and over again tells us what to eat. Go back to the very beginning of the Bible, if you would. Third subpoint within health is what we eat, how we eat.

Genesis two verse eight. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put man whom he had formed, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the site and good for food. The tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” So here we have a fruit tree pictured. Okay, so notice a theme or a thread here.

Turn to Deuteronomy fourteen, if you would. Very simple, but something that if we value our health, it’ll take us a long way. So if we value our health, we’ll make decisions that align with those values, and it can be transformative. Deuteronomy fourteen verse three. “You shall not eat any abdominal thing, these are the beasts which you shall eat, the ox, the sheep, and the goat…”

As far as I’m concerned you can stop at ox, but He gives a whole list of things that we can eat. And the common thread here is they’re just plain foods, stuff that comes off trees, stuff that comes out of the ground, animals. Where we often go amiss is with ultra-processed foods, they can really be detrimental to our health. God spoke of Israel entering the land of milk and honey, just foundational good foods.

It’s impossible to eat perfectly clean food in this day and age. We, of course, have to be balanced about it, but it’s easy with a little bit of work to pick up a bag of potatoes as opposed to a bag of processed French fries. Just these little changes that can have a profound impact on our health. Here’s a CNN article that just came out on a big study that was done, saw it a few places in the news, but this summarized it well. You know, just something as simple as cutting soda can save a person’s life. Eating higher levels of ultra-processed food, as they put it, may shorten lifespans by more than ten percent according to a new unpublished study of over five hundred thousand people whom researchers followed for nearly three decades. So this wasn’t just some little study.

The risk went up fifteen percent and fourteen percent for men and fourteen percent for women when the data was adjusted, said the study lead. Asked about their consumption of a hundred and twenty-four foods, people in the top ninetieth percentile of ultra-processed food consumption said overly processed drinks topped their list. Diet soft drinks were the key contributor to ultra-processed food consumption. The second one was sugary drinks. Loft Field said beverages are a very important component of the diet and the contribution to ultra-processed foods. Refined grains such as ultra-processed breads and baked goods ranked next in popularity that this study found.

If we value our health, maybe we’ll consider cutting some of this stuff out of our diet if it’s a problem. It impacts quality of life, it impacts our ability to, with energy, move forward in life. Minor adjustments can make a big impact. How about the tools of growth? We’ll look at prayer for a minute here. Prayer. You know, if we diligently seek God, He’ll reward us He promises us in Hebrews eleven.

Matthew chapter six. We saw later in Matthew chapter six, the command to seek first the kingdom of God. But before that, He says this, Matthew six and verse five, Christ in the same sermon said the following, “When you pray you shall not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men. But when you pray, enter into your closet and when you have shut your door, pray to the Father, which is in secret, and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.” He’s a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.

“But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking, but be not therefore like them for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him. After this manner, pray you, therefore, ‘Our Father which is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’” And here’s the key, if we value this relationship we have with God, if we’re saying, “Give us this day our daily bread,” it suggests we’re praying on a daily basis.

We’re daily seeking God. These basic things just, they’re what keep us out of trouble. They’re what keep us moving forward. They’re what keep us focused on the value of the kingdom of God. Very simple. Romans twelve. So we’re to pray daily. Sometimes something comes up, unforeseen, a trial out of left field, something we need help with.

Romans twelve. You know, daily might be our main prayer, but how many times have you been in a situation, and it didn’t necessarily go as planned? Excuse me, and you think back, “Ah, I wish I had prayed about that in the moment. It might have gone a little better.” Romans twelve and verse nine. “Let love would be without decimation a bore that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor, preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, seeking the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient and tribulation continuing instant in prayer.”

If we value it, we’ll see it as a lifeline to God, an ability to communicate with God, an ability to call on someone who will reward us openly, who will answer our prayers as long as we pray in alignment with His will.

Do we hold it in the esteem we should? If we go back to the definition of value. First Peter five and verse seven... actually, verse six. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Anything we’re going through, we can ask for his help.” Be sober. Be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour…” those who won’t rely on God for help.

If we’re reliant on God, the devil has no power over us. He can’t get at us permanently. But if somebody is negligent, then the devil might be able to devour him. Maybe just in a battle, but a lifetime of bad decisions, and maybe the devil will win the war in that sense. You know, Peter here was quoting Psalm fifty-five, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Peter said he was quoting David, who in Psalm fifty-five, verse sixteen said, “As for me, I’ll call on God and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice.” He was confident God would help him. He cast all his cares upon him.

Verse twenty-two. “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain you. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” This is an amazing tool, just like all the other tools we have access to. If we hold it in the right esteem, if we apply the correct valuation to it, we won’t be negligent with it. It’ll lead us to the kingdom of God. It’ll lead us to that first value.

Over and over again you see Christ going to a mountain apart to pray when He was depleted after trial, or maybe something was not going well. John the Baptist had just been killed. He went away for some private time or before His great trial, prayer. We’re, of course, walking in His steps. Study. Another one daily that’ll keep us out of trouble.

Proverbs chapter two. Last one we’ll look at. Brief on this one. Proverbs chapter two. Do we value God’s Word? It’s truly a treasure trove. We’re told that explicitly here in Proverbs chapter two, “My son...” Verse one. “...if you will receive my words and hide my commandments with you so that you incline your ear unto wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. Yes, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver and search for her as hid treasures, then you shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom out of His mouth, comes knowledge and understanding.”

You know, people will go to extraordinary links for physical hid treasures. Silver, gold. I was talking to my cousin recently. My family comes from a village that is in a valley in Lebanon, and it’s surrounded by mountains. And there’s one mountain that just had the top taken clearly off of it. Just the top of the mountain is gone. And he told me that, I believe it was in the nineties during Syrian occupation, the Syrian army came after learning that there was a kingdom that used to be up there.

The Syrian army came, they surrounded the perimeter of the mountain, the base of the mountain. And for about a month, they just took bulldozer or a truckload after truckload and trucked it back to Syria. They didn’t even search it at the time. They literally just took all the earth off the top of the mountain to go and sift for the treasures back in Syria. And if you look at maps of Syria, you know, this war-torn country, you’ll see capped mountains all over the place because it’s the thing to do.

Men will do almost anything for treasures. We have the ultimate treasure sitting in our laps, sitting at home. Do we value it? It’s a question. Do we value? We could have talked about our relationships. Those we’re closest to. You know, the first great commandment was loving God. But the second one was loving your neighbor as you love yourself. Do we mine the gold from those around us? Do we serve those around us? Do we value them as we should?

If we’re to love them, as we love ourselves, and presumably we value our own life, do we value theirs? Just simple questions, nothing new. Brethren, if we’re focused on these basics and other basics, you can amplify the list, make your own list, if we value what matters most, if we accurately assess the value of these major areas of life and live our lives in accordance with those values, then our home life will go well. Our social life will go well, not without trial, but you understand.

Our work life will go well, our life will go well, and ultimately, we’ll enter eternal life. If we’re focused on the true treasure, that the eternal weight, the glory, the riches, the everlasting joy, the pleasures that the Psalms speak of, the pleasures evermore, if we’re focused on those, the invisible ones, if we can go back to what Paul spoke of, the ones that we can’t see presently, if we’re focused on those, we’ll receive them.

So we’ll end how we began. What matters? What’s important? What’s valuable to you? To me? What do you value most? Every important decision and action, conscious, unconscious, depends on our answers and they’ll shape our eternal destiny.