Joel 3:5. "For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasure into your temples." God is speaking, through Joel, to Tyre and Sidon, who have carried away not only the temple treasures, but God's people, selling them into slavery in Greece. He promises to requite their deeds on their heads, allowing their children to be sold into slavery as well.

While this line is speaking of the temple treasures of silver and gold, we can see it as applying to all of the treasures God has given us. We put value on silver and gold, so God uses them as examples, but He is very clear, later, that He is much more concerned about His people, and He promises that the children of Tyre and Sidon will themselves be sold into slavery in retribution for what those nations have done.

What are we doing with the treasures God has bestowed on us? Are we taking the blessings He gives us, like our time, talent, money, and most importantly, children, and bringing them to the "temples" of other gods? Human beings have an innate desire to sacrifice - to give back some of what has been given to us, and we tend to sacrifice the things that are most valuable to us. The devil knows that about us, and gets in our heads, twisting our thoughts and leading us to sacrifice God's greatest treasures to idols (look at human sacrifice throughout history!). But God specifically said He desires love and not sacrifice - He wants us to use our blessings in service of Him, to help each other, and to make Him known to the world and to future generations. That is kind of the whole point!

We tend so easily to give thankful lip service to God, and then turn around and prioritize other things with our money, time, and talent. Do we think that our children do not notice where our priorities are? They most certainly do, and we are leading them by example, often right into the temples of the secular gods the rest of the world is worshiping. It is bad enough if we are spending our silver and gold in those temples, but when we lead our children to them, we end up with children belonging to false gods; enslaved, just as the children of Tyre and Sidon will end up. We can prevent this fate for our children, all we have to do is use our treasures wisely, bringing them to the one true God by using them in His service.