The Bible verse Matthew 6:21 says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Church is using that same verse to ask people where their hearts are today. "It's simple, really. It's wherever you put your money," he wrote on his website.
"Some of you, your heart is in your home, because that's where you put your money. Maybe your heart's in your boat. Or your cabin. Or that car you love."
Warren said wherever people put their money, that's where their heart is going to go as well. He said that when people get interested in the Coca-Cola Company, they buy some of the company's stock and they therefore become very interested in the stock price of Coca-Cola. Otherwise, people would not care less about Coca-Cola stock.
In the same way, Warren explained, where Christians put their money and time reveals their priorities. "You can say you love Jesus, but if you don't spend any time with Him, then you don't love Him as much as you think you do. You say you love your kids, but do you spend time with your kids? No? Then you don't really love them the way you think you do. You can say you love to be in shape, but do you work out? No? Then you don't really love being in shape," he said.
The point is, the pastor said, is it's not what people say but what people do. They can say that something is very important to them, but if they don't spend time or money on it, then their heart isn't really there.
"Here's how you know what's really important to people: Look at their calendar, and look at their bank statement. The way we spend our time and the way we spend our money says what's really important to us," he said. "When you give to God, guess where your heart goes? It goes toward God. It draws you closer. It's an act of worship."
