For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21, ESV
Treasures on Earth
When Frances and I were engaged, it was a chore to create a wedding registry. Why? Frances has always been one who buys something when she sees a good deal. In her teens and early twenties, she had a hope chest. When she would find an item that she would need someday for her house, she bought it. There was very little that we needed when we were planning our wedding.
Frances’ hope chest was a treasury. A treasury is the place where you store good and precious things. You might have a hope chest of your own. You might have a jewelry box in which you keep your valuable jewelry. In our house, we have a fire-resistant bag in which we keep valuable documents. I think all of us understand the idea of a treasury.
We must ask ourselves an important question: “Do the earthly treasures I am storing have any eternal value?” In most cases, you and I have things on this earth that we treasure. Although they may not be in a hope chest or another physical location, they take up space in your heart. The Apostle John warns us not to love the world or the things in the world. So, what are the things in the world? John helps us identify these things:
- The desire of the flesh is our propensity to sin. Because we are earth-bound, fleshly beings, particular desires are good – food, water, shelter, sex, and comfort. But, where these natural fleshly desires consume us and become idols to us, they lead to gluttony, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, and many other things.
- The desires of the eyes are anything that causes covetness, jealousy, or sexual lust. The advertisement world knows how to key in on this. They present the product so that it creates a “I have got to have it,” desire in you.
- The pride of life is the desire for self-promotion, greed, and arrogance. No one wants to be disliked. But, our pursuit of good standing with others often leads us to sin.
All that is contained in this list of three that the Apostle John gives us is summed up as our pursuit of position, possessions, and prosperity. So, the question, “Do the earthly resources I am storing up have any eternal value?” must be answered in light of how much they consume you. It is not wrong to have earthly treasurers. It is wrong for them to interfere in your relationship with God.
Treasures in Heaven
I suspect laying up treasures in heaven is as difficult for you as it is for me. Why? It is because treasurers in heaven seem to be mysterious. They are treasures that we will not grasp until the future. For instance, Paul said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18, ESV).” It seems that the heavenly treasures are in the future. In this case, Paul refers to them as the glory to be revealed to us. If you are like me, storing something still in the future or unseen is difficult. Perhaps this is why we lean toward storing earthly treasures rather than heavenly ones.
But how do we store up treasures in heaven? The scriptures give us some idea. For example, Jesus said if you receive a prophet, you will receive a prophet’s reward (Matthew 10:4). Paul spoke to Timothy about a crown of righteousness that all people who have loved the appearing of the Lord would receive (2 Timothy 4:8). Jesus said that even giving a cup of cold water in his name would not cause one to lose his reward (Matthew 10:42).
Perhaps the most telling scripture concerning laying up treasures in heaven is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31. The Apostle Paul’s interpretation is that in whatever you do – eating, drinking, or anything else – do it for the glory of God! The glory of God is the most important filter we can pass anything we do in this life through. We should be asking, “Does this glorify God?”
A Matter of the Heart
It should not surprise us that this is a matter of the heart. The wise man of the Old Testament gave this instruction to his son:
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:23-27, ESV
The word “vigilance” could also be translated as “diligence.” It means we are to guard our heart by keeping it confined as if it were in prison with a guard next to the cell door. So, the list that the wise man gives concerning speech, our eyes, and the path of our feet means that we are to confine all of these. But what do we confine them to? We are to confine them to the correct application of the truth to our lives. In other words, we are to confine these things to wisdom.
If you do not keep your heart in check, it will lead you down a path away from heavenly things toward earthly things. It will snowball on you. It will lead you into a life that is all about you. In reality, your life should be all about God. A life all about God starts with your heart!