My wife was going through boxes and barrels from our last move. She showed me a bundle of letters that I had written to her when we were engaged and separated by distance that long summer. We didn’t have email back then and I couldn’t afford many long distance phone calls. We wrote letters to each other two or three times a week. I couldn’t believe that she still had them after all these years. But to her they are cherished treasures.

I keep many of my cherished treasures in my Bibles. If I put them in a file, I usually can’t find them. If I stick them in a Bible, I usually find them eventually. I recently pulled out a Bible bookmark my wife had given me when we were dating in 1971. It reads, “Where there is FAITH, There is Love. Where there is Love, There is Peace. Where there is Peace, There is God. Where there is God, There is no need.”

That bookmark is a cherished treasure to me. First, because my wife gave it to me. Second, because over the years I have found that the poem is true.

Many of my cherished treasures are now cherished memories that I find myself reminiscing about more and more. Is that a sign of old age?

Is your spouse your cherished treasure? Did you exchange vows before God to “have and to hold . . . for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ‘til death do us part?” Solomon said that a good wife is of more valuable than rubies. (Proverbs 31:10)

Are your children your cherished treasure? After hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, a young television news reporter saw a back man walking toward her carrying an infant. A poignant interview ensued that was broadcast around the world. I paraphrase it from my recollection, “How are you doing?” she asked. “Not good,” he said. “What are you doing?” the reporter asked. “Looking for my wife,” he said with a hollow voice. “Where is she?” she asked. “She’s gone,” he said forlornly. “Gone? Where?” she asked. “I don’t know,” he said with a plaintiff cry. “The water was coming over the roof of the house. I was trying to hold on to her hand and hold on to my grandchildren. She was slipping away. She told me, ‘Let me go. Save the children!’ She was swept away by the rushing water.”

“What are you going to do now?” sobbed the reporter, who was visibly moved and broken. “I don’t know,” said the man as he walked away in a daze.

I’ll never forget that interview as long as I live. That wife gave up her life for her children. Are your children and grandchildren a cherished treasure? They are a gift from God to be cherished. You are blessed if your quiver is full of them. (Psalm 127:5)

To King David the Word of God was his cherished treasure. David said God’s words were sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103), his hearts delight, and his treasure, (Psalm 119:111), more precious than gold (Psalm 119:127). “Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage” (Psalm 119:54 NLT). Is the Word of God your cherished treasure? Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Jesus taught us not to lay up treasures on earth that can be destroyed or lost, but to “store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be” (Matthew 6:20-21 NLT). Where is your cherished treasure?

Do you cherish the cross? It was on the cross that Jesus suffered and died for your sins and mine. The author of the old hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” said, “So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, ‘til my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown.” Paul said that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are saved “it is the power of God unto salvation” (I Corinthians 1:23-24).

To God you are His cherished treasure. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Receive His Son today. Jesus is the “Pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46). He is the cherished treasure forever throughout eternity.