Treasures In Heaven — The Lasting Treasures
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesWhile recently driving home from the office, I saw the rear end of an automobile displaying a bumper sticker that read: “Money Talks: Mine Says Goodbye.” There’s a bunch of folks who can relate to that sentiment, including myself.
There’s no doubt about it — much of our life is spent acquiring and using money which doesn’t last (cf. Proverbs 23:5; 1 Timothy 6:17). For example, the stock market crashes; prices go up; thieves steal our goods. Things wear out and break down, requiring the acquisition and expenditure of more money to replace what has been lost. The temporary nature of material wealth makes it a poor bargain in the search for security in an insecure world. Money is much better at saying “goodbye” than it is at staying with us for any period of time.
However, the Bible never says it’s wrong to have money or the things that money can buy. Where we lose our way is when money becomes the driving purpose of our lives (1 Timothy 6:10). Like the rich man and his barns (Luke 12:13-21), we end up pursuing the accumulation of things that eventually will be forfeited — if not in this life, then certainly at our death (Ecclesiastes 2:14-19; cf. Psalm 49:10).
How tragic it would be to live our entire lives, only to end them with nothing of eternal worth to show for our labors. To paraphrase Jesus’ words, it is much better to be rich toward God than to work for treasure that can’t last (Luke 12:21; cf. Matthew 6:19-20; 1 Timothy 6:18-19).
Let’s always remember that our treasures in heaven are laid up (cf. Matthew 6:20; 1 Timothy 6:17-19 KJV) as our treasures on earth are laid down (cf. Matthew 4:18-20; Matthew 19:16-22).