Bible Reading: Matthew 6:19-21

Cecilia molded a huge sand castle on the beach, trying to make it like the castles she saw in movies. She made soaring towers and dug a deep moat all around it. Then she noticed that the ocean's waves were coming closer and closer. "Help, Dad! The water's going to wash away my castle!"

Dad shook his head. "It's no use. The tide is coming in, and the waves will come a lot higher before they go back down."

Cecilia didn't want to believe that. She dug a wide trench all around her castle and built a sand barrier to protect it. But water soon crashed over the barrier and filled the trench. The waves splashed against the castle, pulling it apart with watery fingers. "It took me a long time to build that," said Cecilia, "and now it's gone!"

"Well, just be glad it's only sand," said her sister, Ember. "Sometimes people lose real houses in fires and storms, don't they, Dad?"

Dad nodded. "When I was young, the house I lived in with my parents was badly damaged in a storm, and I lost a lot of my personal possessions. It was very hard, but it also helped me learn an important truth."

"What truth?" asked Cecilia.

"That all earthly possessions are a little like that sand castle," Dad said. "They won't last. I realized there's something much more important than earthly things, and anyone who has it will never lose it. Do you know what it is I'm talking about?"

"I know," said Ember. "It's Jesus, isn't it?"

"Yep!" Dad said. "He saves us and gives us eternal life, and that gift will last forever. Instead of focusing so much on earthly treasures, we should store up treasure in heaven."

"How do we do that?" asked Ember.

"Well," said Dad, "the most important thing is to trust Jesus as our Savior--He's the only one who can save us and give us eternal life. Then, as He works in our hearts and teaches us to live as children of God, we'll start to care more about what He wants than what we or other people want. The things we do to serve Him--and the things we give up to do it--will build us treasure in heaven."

–Daryl B. Knauer