Treasure in Heaven
“ ‘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’ ” (Matt. 6:19–21, NKJV).
What crucial truths is Jesus speaking here?
Who hasn’t read story after story of those who had amassed great
wealth, only somehow to lose it? Our world is a very unstable place:
wars, crime, violence, natural disasters, anything can come in a
moment and take away all that we have worked for and, perhaps, even
what we have honestly and faithfully earned. Then, too, in a moment,
death comes, and so these things become useless to us anyway.
Of course, Scripture never tells us it’s wrong to be rich or to have
amassed wealth; instead, in these verses Jesus warns us to keep it all
in perspective.
What, though, does it mean to lay up treasure in heaven? It means
making God and His cause first and foremost in your life, instead of
making money first and foremost. Among other things, it means using
what we have for the work of God, for the advancement of His king-
dom, for working in behalf of others, and for being a blessing to others.
For instance, when God called Abram, He planned to use Abram and
his family to bless all the families of the earth. God said to Abram, who
“was called the friend of God” (James 2:23, NKJV), “ ‘I will make you
a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall
be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who
curses you; and in you all the f
