What Are You Collecting?

An Autumn Devotion The green leaves of summer burst into a cacophony of color across the Appalachian horizon of my home town in western Pennsylvania. The chill mornings of fall with near frost on the car were met with the sometimes joyous, sometimes sullen sounds of children trekking off to school. These were simply signs of a changing season to adults, but to us kids they were a sure indicator that it was time to collect “buckeyes”. Now, to some of you, this may be a foreign term to you. I never hear people around Rochester, NY (where I live now) talking about buckeyes; for that matter I don’t think I’ve seen a buckeye since I’ve lived in Rochester, a mere 36 years. I am sure there are some in town, I just haven’t seen them. What are buckeyes?  You might know them as horse chestnuts. If you’ve never seen a horse chestnut, it grows in a green prickly pod on a tree. When you shuck the pod, it reveals a beautiful dark brown shiny nut with a bit of a wood grain look. One side carries a variegated light spot that, combined with the dark brown surrounding, must resemble a deer’s eye: hence the name “buckeye”. Why they seemed so important to us at the time is a mystery. They were kind of pretty when you polished them against your shirt or jeans, but they had no real value. You couldn’t eat them. I would have thought it was a fad begun by the high school groundskeeper, because the front lawn of the school had several horse chestnut trees. If we didn’t pick them up, he would have had to. However, my wife tells me they also collected buckeyes in her hometown on the other side of the state. So that theory is out the window. Whatever the reason, at the time, they seemed so important to us. All the parents must have hated buckeye season. We would load up a couple of grocery bags and bring them home. Other than comparing them and drilling holes in them to string buckeye necklaces, I don’t remember much else we did other than stick them in the garage until they got moldy and wormy and then they were throw out. Maybe some adult form of buckeye collecting is what Jesus had in mind when He warned, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:19-21, NIV)  So many things that people spend their lives running after and accumulating must look like so many buckeyes to our Father God. What are you collecting? by  Pastor Michael McDonald, New Covenant Fellowship, Penfield, NY

Pastor Michael and his wife, Linda, are available for ministry and meetings throughout the body of Christ. They most often minister together with a focus on drawing closer to Jesus, exhortation, healing and deliverance. To schedule a meeting please email ncfmichael@aol.com. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. How To Make Horse Chestnut Soap