To Encourage You

Matthew 6:19-21 “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.”

Do you know what the things are that you value the most? It’s pretty simple, when you think about it. We need just pull out our checkbook or our credit card statements and review the last few months or year and look at where our money has been going. The things we value most will most likely be those things we spent the most money on – at least the money that exceeded that which was necessary for our basic living expenses.

How we define “basic” can be a little complicated, however, since one person may view a basic need for transportation to be any vehicle that will get them from point A to point B, while the next person may think their basic need is a new car and a luxury model to boot. Jesus warned us against laying up treasures on earth, i.e., putting great value in things that will decay over time or can be stolen from us. These things, no matter what they are, He called “treasures on earth.” Conversely, putting our finances, time, talents, and possessions into things that have eternal value is called “laying up treasures in heaven.”

Wherever our money goes, our hearts will follow. If we have a heart for others, it will be demonstrated by giving to them in a multitude of ways.  And the greatest test of our love is how much of our giving is of a sacrificial nature. This occurs whenever we use our money to honor God or benefit a neighbor to such a degree that it results in less money spent on ourselves to satisfy our own personal desires. Laying up treasures by investing them in someone other than ourselves, including the Lord, may at first be something we just do because we should, i.e., because the Bible tells us to. However, we will likely find that our interest in and love for God and our neighbors will tend to gradually increase over time as we direct or “treasures” toward them.

So how are your investments going? Are they accumulating in heaven, where they can never be taken away, or on earth, where they will, one way or another, ultimately disappear?