This morning I was reading through Matthew's Gospel, as it was used in the sermon yesterday. It is one of those significant passages that I go back to regularly. This morning I am reflecting upon the following verses, having to do with heavenly treasure - Matthew 6:19-21 NIV:
[19] “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. [20] But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
At first blush, this seems to be some strange advice, certainly flying in the face of today's estate planning and retirement savings mindset. While it could be applied to our financial decisions, I think the heart of the matter that Jesus is speaking about is our heart! His statement in verse 21 is such a helpful measure in life, because I think it is absolutely true; where our treasure is, is where our heart is. In other words those things that we value most are shown to us by our focus, our thinking, our actions, our affections and our time. The things we really value is what we give our life too, what we invest in.
I think this is a great reflection point, for we should be looking at our life and seeing if we live where and how we want to live. I think that many of us, if you are like me at all, have a set of things we want to value in our heart, but our lives don't always show it. I guess you could say I have an intentional life in my mind, that doesn't always agree with my actual life. There are many more things I intend to do, than I actually do. If I were to analyze my life, and look at what I do and where I invest, I would find that I am not always spending my time, investing in the things that I want to treasure. Often times I just go with the flow, allow my life decisions to be made for me by circumstances or laziness and find whole swaths of time passing me by without really embracing the things I consider in my heart and intentions important. Thus, I have an opportunity to repent, to change not so much the way I think, but to change the way I act, as I don't suffer from a drought of good intentions, but rather good actions.
Secondly, I think the Lord is encouraging us to look to eternity and our life in heaven, to start developing an eternal mindset. His point is that this life is preparation for an eternal life, and what we do here, affects our eternal destiny. Now I don't fully understand what it means to store up treasure in heaven, but I do know that the Lord has encouraged us to think this way, so there must be wisdom and understanding available to instruct us. I have heard someone preaching about how they wanted to be one of the God's chosen companions in the Millennial Reign of Christ (See Rev. 20) and how fasting and other works of religious devotion would increase your chance to be one the chosen. I don't think this is what Jesus meant. I also know that the Catholic Church for many years used this verse to extract cash from her faithful, selling indulgences and such that would affect one's eternal life and heavenly existence. Again, I don't believe that it was Jesus' thought to unleash some kind of giving campaign to furnish Himself and the apostles awesome living quarters, and food. Jesus actually did give a few examples of what stored up treasure in heaven, here is His statement from Luke 18:22 NIV: "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Going back to His final statement in the verses from Matthew, He is saying that this is a heart issue. In a real sense, He is saying that we should rightly learn to value our eternal life, our heavenly existence, over our life here and now. I believe that our life in heaven is synonymous with eternal life, for the most part. In 1 John, he describes eternal life as relationship with Jesus as follows - 1 John 5:11-12 NIV: "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." Thus, applying this we should be prioritizing our relationship with Jesus over other pursuits and concerns here on earth. That is exactly what Jesus told the rich young ruler He was speaking to in Luke 18:22 quoted above, get rid of your possessions on earth, give to the poor and then come and follow Him, or enter into relationship with Him. Clearly there is something good about giving to the poor, but the real issue was concerns and heart affection. Jesus is inviting him to put relationship with Him over all his other possessions and concerns.
I was also just thinking that although there are no poverty in heaven, those that were poor during their time here will certainly be there. Could it be that part of the treasure we are to store up is relationships with those that are considered poor here? What would be the impact on a poor person's life if we were to come along-side them and bless them with some of our abundance, selling our possessions and giving to them providing for them? Clearly the Lord values relationships and since we don't believe that anything we have on earth, other than relationships, passes the eternal threshold it would make sense that this is one other thing we can invest in here that is of value in heaven.
In summary, my encouragement this morning is to prioritize my relationship with the Lord over all things. I am encouraged to invest in relationships over possessions. I am encouraged to review my life, reflect upon my heart attitudes and actions and make sure that I am aligned and prioritized as I intend. Really the Lord's intention in leading us into a time of repentance, where we examine our thoughts and change those that need changing , and examine our life and make changes to our actions as appropriate, is really an encouragement towards a more healthy and balanced life, not a hard punishment or discipline meant to smack us down and correct our behaviour. If this is all about heart issues, then He is intending to lead us in ways that allow us to change our heart. Hard discipline and punishment rarely do that effectively.
The Lord understands us, understands our human condition perfectly, and leads us appropriately. So let us look at our lives and decide to follow Him, and really store up a great treasure in heaven, relationship with Him and others such as our family and friends who know Him, and will spend eternity in heaven.
Amen!
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