“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 ESV
The Bible speaks of streets of gold in heaven. If it is literally gold, I am not sure I am interested. I have had some gold, not a lot, on this earth, and it always loses its glitter. Things of this world are always subject to decay and corruption.
Before we discuss the meaning of laying up treasures on earth, we must address why we do it. The famous commentator Matthew Henry said that their fundamental error is choosing the world as our reward (John 12:43, ESV). We all have our treasures, things upon which we have set our hearts. God does not deny us the pursuit of our treasure; he just wants us to choose the right one.
There is a logical reason for not choosing our treasure here on earth. All earthly treasure is subject to loss and decay. We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:18 ESV to look not to the things that are seen, which are temporal, but to the unseen, which is eternal. If we consider how short life is and the true self is our soul, it is the only enduring thing about us until we receive our glorified bodies, it makes choosing the unseen or eternal the rational choice.
Your heart always follows what you have chosen to be your treasure. Practically speaking, what stores for you treasure in heaven? It depends on whether and how we serve God, and on the reward we seek for our service. If our service is to win the applause of man, and under the banner of serving God, we are seeking our glory instead of God’s, we are still laying up treasure on earth, which is liable to loss and corruption. If our eyes are on Christ and his glory, we are laying up treasure in heaven.
CT Studd, the British missionary, said, “Only one life will soon be passed, only what is done for Christ will last.”
The image is provided by Microsoft.
Ken Barnes, the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing and Broken Vessels through Kindle Direct Publishing.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- [email protected]
