In Luke chapter 12, Jesus talks a lot about possessions, and what they say about our priorities.
Memory Verse: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke:12:34
Materials needed to create the Where is Your Treasure? quiet book page:
- A4 felt background sheet. I used pink.
- felt scraps
- ribbon
- large heart button
- trinkets for the treasure inside
- sewing threads to match ribbon
- the treasure chest template by Stephanie from Imagine Our Life
I'm not going to give a detailed explanation here because Stephanie has already done a tutorial on how to make the chest in her post. Of course you will need to make the loop of ribbon on the lid large enough to fit over your heart button, and sew the heart button in place on the bottom piece.
It is important to sew the chest pieces using a colour thread that matches the ribbon rather than the felt so that when you sew the pieces onto the page and you go over the ribbon it doesn't look funny. That's my opinion anyway.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Intermediate
Getting the loop right is probably the most difficult section.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
- Luke 12 - This page tells the story of how it is better to store our treasure in Heaven, because on Earth our treasure can easily get stolen or ruined
- Imaginative Play - who doesn't like to find treasure!
- Buttoning - Opening and closing the treasure chest
- Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
- Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Read the Chapter
Luke 12
Devotional
As I was reading this chapter and wondering what to write the devotional on, one thing stuck out to me. A man asked Jesus to tell his brother to share the inheritance with him. Jesus doesn't. Actually, he reproves both men with one story. A man had a bountiful crop and no-where to store it, so he decided to build new barns so he could store it all up for himself and sit back and relax and not work anymore. Instead he dies that night and who knows who got to enjoy his bountiful crop. Jesus' point was that it is better to share what extra we have rather than trusting in our possessions to look after us. We can't look after ourselves by having lots of possessions anyway. For all we know, we will die tomorrow, and no amount of goods can change that.
The inheritance cannot save either of them, but God is the one who will meet their needs. And we can trust Him to because he values us much more than the sparrows, whom he never forgets. Life is about more than food and clothes, and God will ensure he looks after the basics if we stop chasing after them like madmen and take time to focus on the important things, like seeking the Kingdom of God and looking after others.
I used to be enthralled with the idea of self sufficiency. As I have grown older, I have begun to realize that self sufficiency is impossible. No one can grow and make everything they need. It takes too much effort and too much skill. Some climates are not suitable to grow certain things. We can do without a lot, but even so, I get exhausted thinking about everything I would have to do if I wanted to be self sufficient.
God created family and community so that we could support each other. We are supposed to need each other because that teaches us that we can't supply everything we need, and that we need to rely on God. The village baker and the village candlestick maker had very different jobs, but if you had a village full of butchers/bakers/candlestick makers (and every other job-ers), there would be a village full of hungry people with no working tools.
If we all focused on what God has given us that we could share with others and we would all benefit from the best of everything.
That man had a chance to ask the Lord of the Universe a question, and he blew it on "tell my brother to share the inheritance". I hope I would ask a more meaningful question than that, and receive an answer I could treasure.
