“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
The race was not even close. The incumbent mayor received only 85 votes, while the challenger garnered nearly 300. The place was Tracy City, TN. In the grand scheme of things, this story would probably not have even made the news if it were not for one small detail in the race – the newly elected mayor actually died several weeks before the election.
Election Commission officials for the small town said they could not even speculate why the dead man received so many votes. Now, however, the city council will have to appoint a new mayor to serve out the term of the newly elected, but dead mayor.
Perhaps the folks of Tracy City were simply trying to make a statement about the incumbent. Regardless, it is flawed thinking to assign your allegiance with dead things or people in things pertaining to life. Other than a statement about the incumbent, what would one hope to gain by electing a dead man to the post of mayor? It sounds like a bad joke or dark comedy.
Oddly enough, this type of thing, in principle, is not new. Folks spend an awful lot of time investing in things that are dead or lifeless. Time, testing and tragedy, for instance, have, proven that while we put a great amount of energy and time into creating, maintaining and reaping physical treasures and stuff, it just simply never pays off. We just end up miserable. For others maybe, the waste is in fruitless or damaged relationships – evil companions.
Laugh, if you will, at the appointment of a dead man to position of mayor, but what of the dead things in your life that you have appointed as the sovereign of your heart? What controls you? Are they things that bring life or are they simply things that perish or never were alive?
This is why Christ would encourage each and all of us to seek a true treasure that cannot be found in a bank or stock market or car lot or some other store. It cannot be found in evil companions and vile influence. Rather, it is found in a right relationship with God. In this day, let go of the deadwood and embrace life.
