We all love a good story with a treasure hunt. The mystery and wonder of looking for something incredibly valuable that has been lost but now could be found, has a way of capturing our attention. In his book, The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn argues that every Christian should be a treasure hunter of sorts. We should be looking for the treasure of eternity that God has in store for those who lay up their treasures in heaven. Expounding on Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 6:19-24, Randy Alcorn lays out these six keys to finding true treasure:
God owns everything; I’m His money manager.
We are the managers of the assets God has entrusted–not given–to us.
My heart always goes where I put God’s money.
Watch what happens when you reallocate your money from temporal things to eternal things.
Heaven–the New Earth, not the present one–is my home.
We are citizens of "a better country–a heavenly one". (Hebrews 11:16)
I should live today not for the dot, but for the line.
From the dot–our present life on earth–extends a line that goes on forever, which is eternity in Heaven.
Giving is the only antidote to Materialism.
Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. It dethrones me and exalts Him.
God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
God gives us more money than we need so we can give–generously.
I highly recommend reading or listening to this book. It is the best treatment on a biblical understanding of giving and generosity that I am aware of.
Or if you would like an abbreviated version of this book check out this message from Randy Alcorn in which he consolidates the message of his book down to about an hour.
