Gravitational Force

Centuries ago, Sir Isaac Newton formulated his Laws of Nature which have been the bedrock of physical science ever since. One of Newton’s Laws is the observation that objects exert gravitational pull on each other: the greater the mass, the greater the gravitational force. Since the earth has greater mass than the moon, we are anchored to our planet’s surface, instead of drifting off into space.

Centuries before Newton, Jesus made a similar observation (and warning) about the gravitational pull of possessions on our hearts. The greater number of things we amass, the greater the temptation to put our trust in those possessions. We even call stocks and investments in our portfolios “securities,” as if we could put our security in those resources. But of course, the opposite is often true. The more securities we amass, the more insecure we can become, fearing a market correction, or obsessing about running out of money in our later years, or just holding on to that magic number we spent a lifetime chasing. It is a subtle but strong pull indeed. Those things we can count often lure us into counting on them too much, and  as a result we can become possessed by our possessions.

But Jesus offers us another way to live. For Jesus, possessions and riches are neither demonic nor divine. All that matters is our relationship to those resources, in the light of our relationship with God. Our memory verse for September falls within a set of teachings by Jesus on how to avoid a life of worry and anxiety, and to live instead a full and joyous and generous life. This life is marked by trust and gratitude, grounded in the awareness that God knows and loves us, and that if we place Him first in our hearts, He will become our greatest treasure.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It is so true. If our most cherished treasure is golf, we obsess about it, we practice on the range, we watch it on TV and we can’t wait for the next time we tee up. If our treasure is our family, we orient our entire day and year around times with them, thinking of personal and meaningful ways to enhance and enjoy those relationships. If our heart’s treasure is our “stuff,” we spend an inordinate amount of our energy obsessing over the portfolio of trinkets and coins we have collected.

But what would it be like if our greatest treasure, our heart’s desire and security, was anchored in God and His provision and plan for our lives? Like a pacemaker correcting a heart out of rhythm, what if God’s Kingdom were the greatest gravitational force on our hearts? It would make all the  difference grounding us, wouldn’t it?

by Pastor Allen Walworth

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Luke 12:34