Thursday, February 9, 2023
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
Where Is Your Heart?
What do you consider your greatest treasure? I was recently walking through an antique shop and looking at the hundreds of trinkets and “treasures.” They might have been priceless at one time to someone, but now they were shoved to the back of a dusty shelf with hundreds of other old “treasures.” It made me think of the things in life that we value so highly and how temporal they are. One day the things we are collecting on earth will not matter.
The issue isn’t that earthly treasures are all bad, but they are of no true value compared to the heavenly treasure we have that never fades. Earthly treasure is temporary, heavenly treasure is eternal. When we lay up treasures for ourselves on earth, we carve out an empty abyss in our heart. It creates a feeling of unsatisfaction and emptiness that can never be filled with earthly treasures. It is a bottomless pit.
As Christians, we are to be good stewards of what God gives us. It is not wrong to possess earthly treasure, it is wrong to lay it up for ourselves and love our earthly treasure more than we love God or the treasures He gives. The treasure He gives fills and brings contentment, not empty discontentment that always yearns for more. His treasures are everlasting and incorruptible. They bring contentment now and even more so on the other side of eternity.
One day we will stand before the Lord to give an account of how we lived our life. What we have treasured in our lives will be a part of that, but Jesus knows what you treasure already, and others do as well. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Whatever we treasure we will love. Jesus was saying that our heart can only be in one place. We cannot store up treasure on earth and in heaven at the same time.
When we hear the word “heart" we often think of a fluffy, feel-good word relating to love. But here "heart,"kardia in Greek, means the very center of our being. Jesus was referring to the part of our hearts that prompts desire and decisions. If, at our core, we are focused on temporal, selfish gain, our decisions will reflect that desire instead of a desire for Christ. There is no room for compromise between seeking our gain or God's Kingdom. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24). We cannot focus on gaining wealth for our personal earthly kingdoms while also trying to anchor hearts in surrender and devotion to Jesus' Kingdom.
But is it worth it to let go of the world's comforts and luxuries in return for heavenly treasure? Without God, the world’s comforts and luxuries will wear out. Their comfort and fulfillment will be short lived and leave us feeling emptier than we have ever felt. Without Him and the treasure He gives, everything we have is gone when this mortal life is over. What He gives is forever. So the answer to that question is absolutely!
We cannot take our earthly treasures with us from this life to the next; but the good that has been done for the kingdom of God through the use of our treasures lasts for eternity, and the work God does in us through faithful giving will last for eternity. Make sure that when people look at your life they see that you love the things of the Lord far more than empty earthly treasures.
