True Treasure

Hollywood comedy filmmaker Tom Shadyac was just stepping into his moneymaking prime in the early 2000s when he began having a nagging feeling of emptiness. After a serious bike accident, the feeling only became more intense. He says, “I was standing in the house that my culture had taught me was a measure of the good life. … I was struck with one very clear, very strange feeling: I was no happier” (“From Multimillionaire to Mobile Home,” Oprah, April 20, 2011, http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/tom-shadyac-from-millionaire-tomobile-home/). He sold his sprawling mansion and luxury cars and bought a mobile home and new bike. Tom doesn’t seem to be molded by a biblical worldview, but in his recognition of the emptiness of riches, a biblical truth is still registering for him. Wealth does not equate to happiness and fulfillment. True contentment can be found only in and through Jesus—in riches or in want. Our truest treasure will always be built in God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:19–24).