Featured on the Hong Kong Economic Journal (May 24, 2014)
There’s a verse in the Bible that says “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. From my understanding, what it means is that we will invest in the things that we value in our heart.
Taking material goods as an example, if I love a particular handbag and desire it with my heart, I am likely to invest my treasure, money, in it. If a person wants the latest phone, he may willingly spend half his salary on it. Some men might not be willing to invest in a new watch (saying they have one that works – why get a new one?) but would, in a heartbeat, buy a new car even if they have several already. That just shows that their hearts are focused on cars and investing their treasure into it is a natural choice. So our heart’s desires and the choices we make in choosing where to put our treasure is closely linked.
But this concept doesn’t just apply to material things – it also applies to time. A common saying is ‘time is money’ and although that may be true, I believe that time is even more precious than money. It’s sometimes easier to give money than to give time. And therefore, time is the true treasure of our lives. Time can’t be bought, can’t be regained and can’t be lived again. We each have a limited amount of time each day, each year and each lifetime. So it is a treasure we must use wisely.
The way we use our time is a reflection of where our hearts are. In looking at our day, it’s usually a necessity that we spend most of our waking moments at work or at school. But outside of the times that we are committed to, how do we choose to spend our time? It’s easy to tell what people have on their hearts when you look at how they spend their time.
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