Treasures in Heaven

Yesterday as I pulled out our van from the garage to take the family to Church, I was perplexed to find that my driveway was empty. After some moments of confusion and confirming that I had in my possession the only two keys to my car that had been parked there the night before, I realized that the car had been stolen. As I thought about it more this morning, these words of the Savior came to mind: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Thieves indeed did break through and steal, but that’s okay because it was a treasure that eventually rust would corrupt. What matters most are those things that we obtain through the Savior which can never be taken by others. I can get a new car, and all that I have which really matters is still mine—as Ether said of his final days I can say about this: “It mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God” (Ether 15:34).

I did get a laugh out of the fact that yesterday I gave away a Book of Mormon. There was a copy in the backseat of my car, and so maybe I can get some credit for doing missionary work? I sincerely hope that those who now have my car will read it. Of course, that’s not very likely, but I asked myself this question: what would I have them read if they were indeed to open it? With perhaps a feeling of the need for retribution the first verse that came to mind was this one from Jacob: “Wo unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell” (2 Nephi 9:34). I might also choose to have them understand these words from Moroni: “Behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing…. O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker…. Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life?” This teaching from Nephi would be similarly thought-provoking for anyone willing to truly consider the long-term consequences of their choices: “Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment. Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever” (1 Nephi 10:20-21). But in the end I hope those aren’t the verses I would share if I really had the chance to invite those who took my car to read the Book of Mormon. Instead, if they only read a few verses, these are the words from the Savior I wish they would come to understand and feel: “Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me. Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name” (3 Nephi 9:13-15).

The experience yesterday also reminded me of a story that Truman G. Madsen told in his lectures Presidents of the Church about George Albert Smith. He recounted, “George Albert Smith had an old 1936 Ford with a very precious blanket on the front seat made by Navajo Indians; they had sewn the names of all the Twelve into the blanket, along with his own name. The car wasn’t locked because it was in a guarded Church parking lot. But the blanket was stolen anyway. George Albert walked out from his meetings and found the blanket was gone.” After summarizing a few things out of anger that George Albert might have done, Truman G. Madsen continued, “What did he do? He said simply, ‘I wish we knew who it was so that we could give him the blanket also, for he must have been cold; and some food also, for he must have been hungry.’” That is the kind of love we should all seek for. Developing that Christlike charity is a treasure of far more value than any car or possession could ever be.