WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?
Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6 can be easily divided into two parts.  Verses 1-18 focus on the believer’s private life of worship.  We are to give secretly; we are to pray in secret; we are to fast without drawing attention to ourselves.  Worship, although it may be done in a public place, is a very private matter between us and God.

Jesus now turns His attention to the more public arena of the Christian:  What is our attitude toward material things?  It is hard to not be affected by the prevailing philosophy of our age – materialism.  Our society has become obsessed with things.  We want to resolve, as did Mark Twain:  I am going to live within my income this year if I have to borrow money to do it; but we soon find that money will buy:  A bed but not sleep, books but not brains, food but not an appetite, finery but not beauty, a house but not a home, medicine but not health, luxuries but not culture, amusement but not happiness, a church pew but not a Savior.

For nearly 10 minutes every hour the television blares out that we cannot live without that car; that our day will not start right without that coffee; or that we cannot excel in sports without that tennis shoe.  We sit there overwhelmed by the bombardment.  What is a believer to do?

In this text of Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus is not denying that we need things to help us to live.  The Bible states the benefit of work.  God gives us things to use and to enjoy.  God has told us to provide for our families.  There is nothing immoral about possessing a car or drinking coffee or cola or wearing tennis shoes.  The dangerous trap Jesus warns us about is making possession of those things our primary motivation for living.  Instead of having things to help us to live, we live to have possession of things.

As we begin our study of these six verses, I would like to have us notice that Jesus boldly states that materialism affects the hearts of His children.  Let’s look at some definitions.  First, treasures of earth can be defined as any valuable that is perishable or that can be lost in one way or another.  On the other hand, treasures in heaven refer to those things that are the result of divine approval and that will be lavished upon the believer in the coming kingdom.  Finally, the phrase lay up means to stockpile or to hoard, depicting the idea of wealth that is not being used.

Friends, as you go about your tasks today, give prayerful consideration to these definitions.  In our next chat, we will try to ascertain what exactly Jesus was teaching when He related hearts and treasures.

Father, I am so thankful for all that You provide for us.  Yes, You do provide for us our daily bread, all that we need for life itself.  Father, forgive us for having our focus upon things rather than upon You.  May our treasure truly be entrusted into Your hands rather than into the hands of others.  We pray this in Christ’s name.  Amen.

 

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