19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[g] consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust[h] consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus, and I have lately found it to be a comfort instead of a burden. It is easy to be enamored with material things: clothes, electronics, automobiles, houses etc. They gave me as sense of being someone, a sense of wholeness. I have found lately that the lack of these things has only sharpened me, leading me to the real pleasures in life. the lack of these things has also made my walk with Christ somewhat easier because I had nothing to lose in following him, I was light and had no baggage slowing me down, it was easy for me to be nimble in things of faith.
But there is another side to self denial, and that is something I sense in me especially because I have ocd. That is I am afraid of taking care of myself and I see myself as lower than most people. I feel unworthy of the simplest things. I do not think Jesus was this way with himself, he allowed a jar of very, very expensive perfume be broken for him, saying that it was for his burial. He was worthy of expensive things because he was a person whose value was much more than any expensive thing in this world (of course Jesus was the Son of God so it is even infinitely higher than this!). So we are also to value ourselves, take care of ourselves, nourish ourselves as he implied in another parable. And we are worthy of expensive, great things because we are precious. Once in a while that is..
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