Treasure in Heaven

Amelia looked down at her paint-splattered T-shirt and jeans and shook her head. "I'm trying to keep it on the wall."Her dad grinned. "Me too, but look at my hair."Amelia's eyes widened. "What if the blue never comes out?""Then I guess I'll have blue hair," Dad said."You two sound like you're having fun in here." Mom stepped into the doorway. "Mind if I join you?"Amelia looked at her mom and giggled. "You have pink paint in your hair.""I do?" Mom pulled her ponytail forward to see. "Oh, well. It will wash out."Amelia dipped her roller in the paint pan. "I didn't know painting could be so much fun.""I know," Mom said. "I think part of it is knowing we're doing this for someone else. I can't wait to see your cousins' faces when they see the freshly painted walls."Dad nodded. "It feels good to do this for your aunt after all she's been through lately.""It feels kind of like Christmas morning," Amelia said as she rolled more paint on the wall. "I thought I could only feel like that if I were getting something.""Well, in a way, you are getting something," Dad said. "You know how the Bible tells us not to store treasures on earth but to store them in heaven? Today, helping out your aunt and cousins like this, you're storing up treasures in heaven.""We store treasures in heaven by doing good things for others?" asked Amelia. Dad nodded. "The Bible reminds us that earthly treasures don't last forever, but Jesus loved us so much that He died and rose again so we could be part of His eternal kingdom. When we do things for others to show them His love, God promises to use our loving deeds to build His kingdom. It's one way we store up treasures that last." "I want to do stuff like this more often," Amelia said."I think that would be a great idea," said Mom. "We can find other ways to share God's love as a family."Amelia smiled as she put one more stripe of paint on the wall, knowing her cousins were going to love their new room. She couldn't wait to do even more to serve others and store treasures in heaven. –Bethany Acker