What About Treasures?

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew, 6:19-21, NIV)

Moths, rust, and thieves.  You have to think Jesus was speaking directly to us by calling out three of the most feared threats to a collector car owner.  In this account relayed to us by Matthew, Jesus goes on to advise that we store up our treasures in heaven, and not here on earth.

What does it mean to store our treasures in heaven?  I believe it means to use our time, talent and resources for the greater good of God.  It means to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him, and to support and encourage those who do.  It means to be thankful for our blessings, and not place our love for them over our love for the Lord.  Consider that one of the Ten Commandments states: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).  Those “other gods” are not necessarily idol gods, they can be possessions, money, or whatever fundamentally controls your behavior and allegiance.

In my opinion, this is not to say that we can’t have and enjoy earthly things.  It is about keeping it all in perspective.  All that we are and all that we have are blessings from Him who created us.  Obviously we cannot take any of our earthly treasures with us when we are called home for eternity, so the value we put on them should be relative to our current situation and not our eternal one. 

Dave Kanofsky