Life can be very interesting. Sometimes you do something for somebody that you think is bad, and it turns out to be good. Sometimes you do something for somebody that you intend to be good, and it turns out bad.

Last week an article appeared in the paper about a daughter who wanted to do something significant for her elderly mother. This person decided to buy a new bed for her. That seems like a good idea.

The daughter also decided to buy a new mattress. She wanted to make it a surprise so she threw out the old mattress and surprised her mom with the new bed and mattress.

Her elderly mother then remembered something that was relatively important. She obviously didn’t trust banks or financial institutions, so she had stuffed her life savings into the old mattress. She claims that she had $1 million hidden in the old mattress!

Immediately the lady and family members went out to the garbage dump and began searching for that old mattress. They estimate that about 2,500 tons of trash arrive at the garbage pile each day. They were quickly searching for it. At the time of the writing of the blog, it was not indicated whether or not they found the mattress.

The Bible is very clear about storing up things on earth. It is important for us to save for our future, but we need to remember where we put our savings. Hiding our valuables in a place known only to us can be awfully dangerous.

A more important issue is being sure that we store up things in heaven. Wherever we put them here on earth the Bible says that they are subject to rust, moths, and even to thieves. The treasures that we place in heaven never can be lost, diminished, or stolen.

Rummaging around a garbage dump does not seem very appetizing to me. Reading and understanding what the Bible teaches us about investing what we have is very, very appealing. We also could sleep more comfortably on our beds at night – whether they are new or old – knowing that what we have is safe and eternal.

Scripture says that where our treasure is, that is where our hearts will be also. Placing my heart in a mattress or garbage dump seems foolish. Placing my heart in the eternal hands of God means that it will be beyond the realm of heart failure or heart attack but will be eternal.

Read Matthew 6: 19-24.