Treasure Part 2 of 4

Treasures in Heaven

Part 2—Where is your treasure?

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 neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Part 1 – What Is Your Treasure?
Part 2 – Where Is Your Treasure?
Part 3 – How Do You Store Up Treasure?
Part 4 – How Do You See Treasure Clearly?

Question: How do you know if your treasure is being stored up on earth or in heaven?

None of us have the ability to check our heavenly bank account. Therefore, on this side of the grave, there is no way we can objectively know to what degree we are storing up treasure in heaven. Nevertheless, Matthew 6:19-21 is a call for us to examine ourselves on this question.

The difficulty in obeying Matthew 6:19-21 is immediately obvious. Who among us does not attach importance to earthly possessions? There is not a man reading this who would not experience some angst if he lost his life-savings. Any of us would be deeply grieved upon losing a loved one, especially a wife or child. And if we are being honest, there are much less important temporal possessions that would cause us great pain if they were taken from us.

To be human is to attach importance to temporal things. Intrinsic in Matthew 6:19-21 is the idea that the desire to store up treasures on earth is the natural state of man. We find that our heart easily becomes connected to earthly possessions. Here lies the problem: at this juncture our earthly possessions become our treasures and we fall into the trap of being double minded. Two different value systems are motivating us.

Obeying Matthew 6:19-21 requires that we change the truth system that we were born with and that has been ingrained in us from an early age. “For that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” These words of Lord Jesus in Luke 16:15 are illustrative of the change in truth system that must occur for the Christian.

Matthew 6:19-21 is a question of valuation, of where we place our investments. A man may love his family dearly, but God wants to know if he loves his family more than he loves God. Most of us, at least to some degree, care about how much money is in our savings account, but God wants to know if we love our savings account more than we love Him.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44

I challenge you to do an analysis of whether your heart lies more connected to earthly treasure or to the things that will lead to eternal treasure. Deep in the marrow of your soul, would you allow God to take away your most treasured earthly possessions, your wife, your children, your job, your health, if it meant that it would increase your treasure in heaven? This is the point of Matthew 6:19-21. This may be easy to say in theory, but in reality it is a scary proposition. Everything is on the table. The man who has prepared himself and his family with these truths ahead of time will be much better equipped to handle the painful loss of earthly treasures when God takes them.

Questions:

1) Are you double minded? What does the bible say about the double minded man (James 1:8 and 4:8)?

2) When was the last time you got on your knees before God and communicated to Him that treasure in heaven is more important to you than anything He could take away from you on earth? That you are willing to sacrifice anything knowing that He will make it up to you in eternity?

3) Do an accounting on your possessions. Are there any more important than heavenly treasure?

4) Do I turn my entire family over to God and His plan regularly?

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