QFD | Treasured : Entry 3 - The Poverty of Rich Escape
- Herbert Berkley
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Treasured : ENTRY 3: The Poverty of Rich Escape
When Self-Care Replaces Seeking God
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”—Matthew 6:21 (ESV)
In Entry 1, we discovered that money reveals the heart. In Entry 2, we saw that money competes to rule the heart. Here in Entry 3, we face a quieter danger: money can quietly redirect the heart by funding escape and calling it “care.”
There is a version of self-care that does not restore—it distracts. It rearranges the surface of life without inviting God into the depths. It feels therapeutic—even earned—yet it slowly replaces seeking the Lord with purchasing relief.
Rest is not the problem. Scripture commands rest. Jesus welcomes the weary. The problem is replacement—when comfort becomes our refuge instead of Christ.
What “Rich Escape” Really Is
Rich escape can be defined in a single sentence:
Using our resources to avoid God instead of drawing near to Him.
It rarely looks sinful. It often appears wise, reasonable, or even healthy:
a weekend away to “reset,”
a purchase to provide comfort,
a moment of indulgence to take the edge off,
an experience crafted to soothe but not to heal.
Individually, any of these may be harmless. But when they consistently become our first response to emptiness or pressure, they reveal a deeper pattern:
escape before surrender, comfort before communion, indulgence before prayer.
Jesus presses lovingly against this instinct:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”—Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
Escape cannot be first. Self-care cannot be first. Only God can be first.
Why Escape Feels Holy
Escape is seductive because it offers what obedience requires—but without surrender.
It promises:
relief without repentance,
quiet without prayer,
comfort without communion,
restoration without returning to God.
Scripture exposes this beautifully:
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”—Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV)
Escape can hold a little water for a little while, but never enough to satisfy.
And ironically, money gives us the ability to keep refilling the same cracked container—without ever addressing the deeper thirst.
The Poverty Beneath Rich Escape
I know this pull. I’ve had moments when clicking “buy now” felt easier than opening my Bible—not because I wanted to sin, but because escape felt easier than being honest with God.
This is the poverty beneath rich escape:
materially comfortable,
spiritually thin;
externally replenished,
internally worn;
surrounded by comforts,
starved for communion.
Jesus interrupts this cycle with a better invitation:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV)
Rest is not purchased. Rest is not orchestrated. Rest is not found in insulation or indulgence.
Rest is received—from a Person. Rest begins in His presence, sustained by His gentleness, anchored in His nearness.
Mary, Martha, and the Good Portion
Matthew 11 tells us who gives rest. Luke 10 tells us where that rest is found.
When Jesus entered the home in Bethany, Scripture says:
“While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand. ’The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’”—Luke 10:38–42 (CSB)
Martha’s fatigue wasn’t sinful. Her desire to serve wasn’t misplaced. Her burden was familiar: doing for Jesus without being with Jesus. Her activity became her escape.
Mary, by contrast, wasn’t idle—she was attentive. Her stillness wasn’t laziness; it was loyalty. Her posture declared a truth escape always hides :the soul rests when it sits with Christ, not when it flees from pressure.
Jesus calls her choice “the right one,” not because she stopped working—but because she stopped escaping.
There is only one portion that cannot be taken away: the portion that begins at His feet.
Practical Reorientation: Four Simple Replacements
Replace numb with near. Before spending or escaping, pause for a 30-second “Come to Me” prayer.
Replace indulgence with intercession. When pressure rises, pray for someone by name instead of soothing yourself first.
Replace isolation with invitation. Tell a trusted friend, “I’m tempted to escape—walk with me toward Jesus.”
Replace purchase with practice. Choose one anchor habit for weary moments—reading a psalm aloud, a short walk with thanksgiving, or kneeling prayer.
Diagnostic Questions for Today
When I feel thin, what do I reach for first—comfort or Christ?
Do my “resets” consistently cost money but avoid prayer?
Which comforts in my life function as broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13)?
Where could I trade one indulgence for one act of obedience?
Who helps me turn escape into seeking?
Christ-Shaped Closure
True rest is not the absence of burden ;it is the presence of a better Master who carries with us.
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”—Hebrews 4:9–10 (ESV)
And this rest is found in a Person who meets thirst at the source:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”—John 7:37–38 (ESV)
The cure for rich escape is not stricter rules or pricier comforts. It is Christ—the fountain that never leaks, the rest that never fails, the presence that restores what escape only numbs.
Let the heart come to Him before it goes anywhere else.
