Shatzie - My Treasure My Love
Many of you know that my mom is German. My dad was a staff car driver in the Army and drove all over Germany where He met my mother. After getting married there, they came back to the US and eventually moved to Garland. That’s how I got here! Growing up I would hear my parents call each other “Shatzie.” Hey Shatzie, let’s go to the store! Shatzie, what time is it? One day, I asked what “Shatzie” meant and my dad told me that the German word Shatz means “Treasure”! Imagine that! They called each other their treasure all the time. I don’t know if the rest of you had parents that loved each other so much and were such great examples, but I’m certainly blessed to have parents that were such love birds! I wish every family could have that blessing! This world would probably be a better place if people’s parents showed that healthy true love to each other!
For my first car, I had a yellow ‘65 mustang that was first my dad’s then my sister’s then my brother’s then was handed down to me. By the time I got it, it barely would keep running, so I spent a lot of time fixing it up and maintaining it! I just loved that car! It was cool looking! Then one day, I parked it but left it running, and then turned around and the car was gone! It somehow shifted itself into reverse which was a mechanical flaw of the car, and it went down the street and hit a tree! If it would have missed the tree it would have gone into a pool so I guess I’m glad it didn’t do that at least. But because of that incident, the car could no longer be driven. My dad ended up selling the car for next to nothing to get rid of it. But that WAS my treasure and it was gone! I still think about that car (as can be seen by this story).
I remember one day we got a call that we just couldn’t believe. It was when we found out my Brother had died. I remember watching my mom and dad ball like babies! I balled like a baby. That was not easy, that was super tough to go through! At times I felt I couldn’t live without my brother! I remember for at least a couple of years, there were several things that would trigger us to tears when we thought about him and I had to be careful what to say around my parents or we might fall into that trap. I still tear up when I think about my brother. He was a bright light in our family and is sorely missed.
But you know, things are things, but people are a real treasure! If anyone has lost anyone close to them, you know how it feels. I don’t believe I shed a tear for that lost mustang. Sure I was disappointed when my mustang was lost, but when my brother passed away, it was a totally different feeling! A true treasure had been lost! You can know what a person’s treasure is. Whatever they are into, where their heart is.
Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
There is of course a certain person that is a treasure to me. I met her at church and we hung out a lot. I had my eye on her and I was hoping she had her eye on me. One day we had a church lock-in which. You get a bunch of kids, you give them pizza and cokes and you lock them in the church overnight. That seems like a dangerous thing to do! Some kids had already laid down and were starting to go to sleep. But we ran out of drinks so another guy and I were going to go to the store to get some more and then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that one girl who was seemingly already asleep, when she found out we were going to the store, hopped up and wanted to go with us! At that moment I knew she wanted to be wherever I was and it was a really good feeling because I wanted to be wherever she was. We’ve been together ever since! She is my Shatzie!
Of course so far what I’ve talked about is mostly of this world, but we know our Father in Heaven considered us the apple of His eye (His Shatzie).
Psalm 17:7-9 We are the Apple of His eye!
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.
You are a Shatzie to God!!! Some of us who trust in Crist also in turn find God as the apple of our eye (He is our Shatzie)!
1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
So we have a love relationship between God and us that surpasses anything here on earth! And if you don’t know God in that way, I deeply implore you to find a relationship with God which begins with trusting Jesus as your Savior.
One of God’s greatest love letters found in the Bible is John 3:16 where God proclaims that He has such a strong love for us that He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could be saved if we’ll only put our trust in Him!
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
But we live in a fallen and corrupt world. A world where Satan is the prince and many follow him. You can just look around and tell that politics and the world’s issues have divided people and increased hate. Some people have substituted love for hate and they even find that behavior acceptable - people are actually attracted to hate and being bad! Satan is about hate and lies... God is love. The world’s way is division, hate, and war. God's way is love. Some people are so attracted to hate, it’s like Satan is their Shatzie. With many, their love has gone cold, which the Bible warned about!
Matthew 24:10-13 Love of most will grow cold
10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Don’t let that world’s division and hate take over your life and let your love grow cold. That’s what the devil wants. God wants love and unity, the devil wants division and hate.
John 17:20-23 Jesus’ desire: Unity
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
God wants a relationship with you! He sent His Son to bring peace, love, and unity with God, but also God wants us to have peace, love, and unity with others! God gave us 10 commandments which are sort of beginner's rules to drive home that we should love God and others and even Jesus boiled the commandments down to simply: love God and Love others.
Matthew 22:36-40 Love God Love Others
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Imagine if the world could do that: love God and love others. Imagine if all division and hate were done away with! All of our problems would be solved! All you need is love!!! It seems so easy, but why is it so hard?
John 13:34,35 Love one another
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Don’t you just wish that people could let go and let God have His wonderful way?
Don’t you wish that people would stop with the political nonsense, division, hate, lies, and war?
Don’t you wish people could forgive and forget the ugly past?
Wouldn’t you just love to see unity and love flourish!
Wouldn’t you just love to see people treasure and appreciate each other again!
These days, I get to go out to lunch with my parents on Fridays. I treasure that time I get to spend with my parents. People are a treasure. My parents are a treasure!
Things, not so much. Lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven - more and more means to me that people are the treasures we should be laying up there!
When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! Imagine a place where all those things we wished would be here on earth, love, joy, unity and the like will be in heaven! Spending time with my parents is sort of like a little bit of that heaven here on earth and I treasure that.
What do you treasure? Who is your Shatzie? Is Jesus your Shatzie?
Remember you are God’s treasure and He loved you so much! He sent His son to save you!
If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, I hope you will put your trust in Him today!
Make God your Shatzie, seek His kingdom, find the real treasure, not the false worldly nonsense that only divides and does not satisfy.
Not money or science or other things that can’t love ya back.
Only God truly satisfies and He is the true treasure! God is love!!!
Also, love one another for love is from God!
We need a Yahtzee of Shatzie? LOL!
