My Precious or Jesus: What Truly Captures Your Heart?

Summary

This article challenges readers to examine what they call “precious.” Drawing from Scripture and literary illustration, it shows that whatever we treasure controls our hearts. Earthly pleasures are fleeting, while faith in Jesus brings eternal joy and meaning. True life requires surrendering self-centered pursuits and choosing Christ as our greatest treasure. Those who live for eternity gain both an abundant life now and everlasting reward, while those who cling to temporary pleasures forfeit the best of both worlds.

My Precious or Jesus Reveals Our Hearts

In The Hobbit, Gollum calls the Ring, “My Precious.” It was of surpassing worth to him. “In LotR, by contrast, Gollum calls both himself and the Ring 'precious’; but it is always clear which he means, because the Ring is capitalized and he is not.”1 

Why Self-Preservation Replaces Devotion

It reminds me of two related Scriptural truths: our treasures captivate our hearts (Matthew 6:21), and to save our lives, we must give them up for Jesus’ sake (Matthew 16:25).

Fleeting Pleasures Versus Eternal Joy

If we cling to our lives as “precious” instead of denying ourselves, something other than Jesus will be most precious to us, and like the Ring, it will control us. How we spend our time, energy, and money reveals the identity of “My Precious.”

Its pleasures are fleeting compared to those Psalm 16:11 promises: “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (NLT).

Paying the Temporal Price for Eternal Reward

Eternal pleasures have a temporal price tag. The Apostle Paul died to his agenda to live for God. “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” (Acts 20:24 NLT).

Faith as the Christian’s True Treasure

The Apostle Peter identified faith in Jesus Christ as the Christian’s “My Precious.” “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:7 NLT).

Seventy, eighty, or ninety years of self-indulgent pleasure are weightless balanced against the eternal suffering we reap for living for ourselves instead of God and others. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46 NLT).

By pursuing earthly pleasures, we also forfeit the rich, meaningful life we can experience on earth (John 10:10). Moses released any claim on the fabulous wealth, power, and position that would have been his in Pharaoh’s court.

Choosing Eternity Over Self-Indulgence

“It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26 NLT). 

A foolish assumption is that this life is all we have, and the pleasures we experience during it are all we will ever have. It will cause us to miss out on the best that both this life and eternity offer.

1.     About the word "precious": r/tolkienfans

Photo: Image Creator (microsoft.com)