The Treasure

When I was a young girl, I loved to read.  It was my escape from the reality that was life.  Each day, I would lose myself in the pages of a book.  I loved reading the old classics, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Heidi, Treasure Island, The Secret Garden, and even The Little Princess.  I watched adventure movies, and read adventure books.  Many of the books I read told stories about maps and buried treasure, or about finding something hidden and desirable.  The Secret Garden talked about finding a secret place and making it bloom and grow again.  All of my favorites involved a mystery that I could solve if only I could just manage to put the pieces of the puzzle together. 

Nothing could tear me away from the pages of my books. Each was like a long lost friend that I hungered to be near, each was a treasure to be cherished. 

At a different time and in a different place, the Savior of the world also spoke of treasure. He declared:

"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.” 

The promised treasure was not gold or silver or precious metals. It was not hidden rooms or gardens.  It did not consist of worldly things. 
The Savior was speaking of the treasure that is available to each one of us. It brings us joy here upon the earth and happiness well into the eternities.

We have all that we need to guide us on our own treasure hunt as we journey through this life and strive to find the person that we need to be.
The path that leads us home is straight and narrow, however it is easy to find if we make use of the tools that we have been given.  We need to take care also that we don't listen or heed the voices and distractions that are all around us.   

One of the first quotes I ever memorized says:

We live in the present,

We dream of the future,

But we learn eternal truths from the past. 

Those things we seek today are the treasures that we are laying up for the tomorrows in our lives.  One day, each of us will run out of tomorrows.  It is up to us to recognize the true, eternal treasures from the things of the world. 

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”