In 1848, gold was discovered in California.

John Sutter was a Swiss immigrant who had come to California in 1839 with dreams, not of finding gold, but of building his own private empire. By the mid-1840s, Sutter had built a fort, had 12,000 head of cattle, and employed hundreds of workers. But it was an accidental discovery while building a sawmill that completely changed Sutter’s life—and the nation’s history.

While constructing the sawmill, which Sutter intended to provide lumber for his growing ranch, a glint of something caught a worker’s eye. Gold! At first, Sutter and his men tried to keep the discovery a secret. But by the winter of 1848, whispers of a gold strike had drifted eastward across the country. At first, few people believed the rumors. But when President James Polk told the nation that the reports were true, the gold rush was on!

Thousands of men and women headed to California to make their fortune. Few, however, realized their dream of striking it rich.

The lure of treasure and quick wealth has always been a temptation. In fact, Jesus warned his followers about spending all their time and effort going after earthly treasure. That type of treasure, Jesus said, would eventually be destroyed or stolen. It wasn’t the type of treasure that would last.

Instead, Jesus tells his followers (like us!) to store our treasure in heaven, where it will be protected forever. So how do you store treasure in heaven? By using all your resources—money, time, and abilities—for God’s work. In fact, any time we obey God and do what he wants, we are storing up treasure in heaven!

How much heavenly treasure do you have saved?

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves” (Matthew 6:19, 20).

To Do

Make a list of your resources. Think of one way that you can use each of those resources to store up treasure in heaven.

Also on this day . . .

1908—The first Boy Scout troop was started in England.

1922—Christian K. Nelson patented the ice cream treat known as the Eskimo Pie.

1985—Penny Harrington became the first woman police chief of a major U.S. city (Portland, OR).

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.