“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ, who sits beside God” Colossians 3:2-3
The third weekend in September for the past fifty-four years finds my small town of Franklin, WV, celebrating the Treasure Mountain Festival. People come from all over to commemorate the 1758 attack on the frontier outpost of Fort Seybert by Killbuck and his band of Shawnee and Delaware Indians. Many settlers were massacred, and the fort was burned, but a few were spared and taken prisoner. They were led up and over the rugged terrain of the West Virginia mountains to the Ohio River Valley, hundreds of miles away. Before setting the Fort in a blaze, the Indians gathered the few valued possessions of the settlers, securing them in an iron kettle suspended on a pole. Two braves attempted to carry the treasure up the east slope of the South Fork Mountain not far from the Fort’s location. The two Indians fell behind due to the steep terrain and burdensome nature of the kettle. When they finally joined the group of Indians and captives, they were empty-handed. Legend holds they buried the treasure, and history maintains they never revisited the area to claim it. Many inhabitants continue to search the still visible mountain trail for the treasure.
My family and I attended this year’s reenactment of the attack on Fort Seybert. It was a beautiful evening with cool, crisp air and views of the stunning West Virginia mountains. As I sat and thought about my pioneer relatives, one descendant was among the captured who later miraculously returned to the area, I marveled at their bravery and tenacity. And the mountain that holds the supposed hidden treasure loomed in plain sight, depicting how humanity spends so much time and effort searching for treasures in this earthly life. Jesus taught, “Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will always be where your treasure is” (Matthew 6:19-21).
After speaking of earthly and heavenly treasure, Jesus said we can not serve two masters. If we try, we will love one and hate the other (Matt 6:24). While Jesus referred to money as the other master pitted against God, in today’s culture, the undesirable master can be the pursuit of money and power, security, influence, or possessions. Treasure is linked to the heart. What does the heart long for? As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2), should be our heart’s cry and unquenchable desire. Is our heart longing for Jesus to be the greatest treasure in our life? Unlike the buried treasure, He is never hidden and can always be found. And that’s your Tuesday Tidbit.
The picture shows some mountain ranges and valleys the captives would have crossed on their way to the Ohio River Valley. God’s glory is shining through the clouds. Photograph by Rick Burgess.