Recently I learned a very important lesson about internet and computer security. I had not backed up all of my important files, except for some sermons which I backed up about May of last year. None of the church bulletins or other church related documents had been backed up since I have been working with the Oak Grove congregation. Also, the antivirus software on the church office computer was not up-to-date nor had a virus sweep been run recently. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way the computer was infected with a “worm” virus that destroyed the contents of the hard drive. I lost virtually everything I had done on that computer in the last year. It’s GONE! Some of it might be recovered, but the computer tech told me not to get my hopes up. Today I purchased an external hard dive so that I can store and protect my important “data treasures” and prevent another catastrophic loss. If only I had done so the previous week, I would not have had my valuable documents destroyed! But once the worm eats your data – it’s too late, there’s little chance of recovery!
This reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20, “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…”
Like me with my “date treasures,” many trust their infinitely more important spiritual treasures to their “internal physical hard drive” (i.e. “laying up treasures upon the earth”) instead of in the “external spiritual hard drive” (i.e. “laying up treasures in heaven”). If our spiritual treasures are stored only on the earth, what will happen to them when our system crashes (and crash it will) – and we die? Our spiritual treasures will be GONE FOREVER! There is no “technician” that can restore or recover our spiritual treasures once the system crashes – it’s too late to retrieve what will be lost! We need to place our valuable spiritual treasures somewhere that nothing can harm them! We need to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where our God will keep them safe and protected and hold them preserved for us until the time when our “physical system” crashes and our “internal hard drive” is gone forever.