Sunday, March 6
Treasure check
Scripture: Numbers 11-12, Psalm 28, Matthew 6
Matthew 6:19–21 Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Observation
Jesus tells us not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. Treasures are things of exceptional value that are kept safe. In truth, there is no safe place on earth to store them. Moth and rust destroy; thieves steal; stocks and currencies fall; economies collapse; things wear out and fail.
But our treasures are safe in heaven. That raises the question: how do you store up treasure in heaven? What do we know will be in heaven? What can we take with us? Only two things: our relationships with God and people. That is what lasts. Those are the real treasures.
Your heart follows your treasure. Your heart is attached to what you value, what you treasure. What do you value? Do a “treasure check.”
Application
Hold tightly to your relationships and hold loosely to everything else. All material treasures can be taken from you or lose their value. Your relationships are what last and matter. So if you want to store up treasures in heaven, invest in your relationships with people and God.
No one on his deathbed ever wished he had spent more time at the office, or bought more stuff. But millions have regretted lost relationships, or wished they’d had more time with family or friends.
What is your treasure? What is of “exceptional value” to you? Your heart naturally goes there. I have to do a regular “treasure check” because I find myself pursuing the temporary and neglecting the eternal.
Today, I want to invest in God and people—those relationships are the only thing I’ll take with me to heaven. They are “treasure in heaven.”
Prayer: Lord, help me today (and every day) lay up treasures in heaven by loving God and loving people. Keep my values straight. Don’t let me waste my life investing in treasures on earth.