Every Hurt

Aurelia looked at the tattered map in her hand, then up at the mountain. This was it. The place she had been searching for all her life, ever since she had heard the tales of the lost treasure of Cordoro as a little girl. According to the legend, the inhabitants of Cordoro had traveled far and wide in search of priceless treasures and hidden them deep inside this mountain. Then some unknown tragedy had befallen the city, and Cordoro and its treasure became nothing more than a fable. But Aurelia had believed the stories and dedicated her life to finding the lost city’s hidden treasure. Now it would soon be hers.

She followed the map to a cave, then lit her torch and made her way along its dark, twisting passages. Then she saw it—a door. She turned the ancient handle, and the heavy metal groaned as it cracked open. She stepped inside and held her torch high. The sight that met her brought her to her knees. Gold. Gold as far as her eyes could see.

She found a row of torches on the wall and lit them one by one. Light filled the room, and mounds of treasure glinted back at her. She laughed and threw herself into a sparkling heap, letting a handful of coins seep through her fingers.

That’s when she heard it; a low hum that seemed to pulse through the pile of gold. Curious, she began to dig, and the faint, rhythmic sound became louder. As she plunged her hand into a nest of diamonds, she felt something soft and wet. When she pulled it out into the light, her screams reverberated off the walls of the cavern. It was a heart—a human heart—beating in her hand. She hurled it away from her with all her might, but the pulsing only grew stronger. It wasn’t the only one. She could now see that each pile of gold had its own heart beating within it.

So this was the cause of Cordoro’s downfall. The mountain didn’t just hold the inhabitants’ lost treasure—it held their hearts too. Aurelia ran for the door as fast as she could, leaving the treasure of Cordoro and the hearts devoted to it behind in the cold depths of the mountain. When she finally stumbled into the sunshine, tears of relief flowed down her face. Cordoro’s treasure had lost its grip on her heart. Now she was free to seek a greater treasure—one she had ignored in her lustful quest for gold. A treasure that brought life instead of death. • Courtney Lasater

• All sin, including greed, leads to death. But through Jesus’s death and resurrection, He forgives us, gives us new life, and transforms our hearts and desires. How might this truth give you hope?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Ps.34.17-Ps.34.18|Ps.147.3