Title: Lay Up Treasures on Earth
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. There neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves neither break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:19,20).
Of course, giving your best to God and to the work of the church is a very good thing in itself. Also, God's work cannot be accomplished without the costly sacrifice of the believer. But any offering must be accompanied by a willingness to volunteer. We fully understand what God really wants and dedicate ourselves to it.
In the text, “treasure” refers to the things that the believer considers most precious and valuable. It has nothing to do with the amount of the pledged offering or the length of time devoted to it. This is because Jesus clearly stated the definition of “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” in the following words. Treasures are the things or objects that the believer's heart is most focused on.
Nor does it mean that the treasure can only be obtained by going to heaven, such as eternal life, a crown, heaven, and resurrection. If you are a believer who has been saved by the blood of Jesus, you have already secured it in heaven. Since your name is listed in God's book of life, there is no need to worry about whether to build it up in heaven or on earth.
The text is about what believers should do and how they should live on this earth. In other words, Jesus set the standard for what a believer should consider as a treasure. In short, I do not mean to give to heaven the best on earth. You can't actually give it. On the contrary, it is about laying up the treasures of heaven on earth.
So, what is the standard Jesus set? The concept of the place of heaven and earth is not the criterion. It is the difference between whether it will be destroyed by moth, rust and thieves, or whether it will remain valuable as a treasure for eternity without being disturbed by such things. Therefore, do not live with the goal of all rotting away one day, but pursue the value of living forever on this earth.
First of all, it is matter that decays. No matter how large a diamond is, it will eventually rot. This does not simply mean that the substance should not be disclosed. Pride, prestige, prestige, authority, and honor are all in vain and vain as time passes. Even morality, ethics, goodness and righteousness, and even love are the same, not because they are unworthy or not good. Treasure between humans in human society means that one day it will change or disappear.
The only thing that is eternally good and holy and incorruptible comes from God. (Matthew 19:17) Jesus said, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). Work is “believing in him whom God has sent” (John 6:29). Only by living according to God's will in Jesus is to lay up treasures in heaven.
“If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of the things above, not the things of the earth. Therefore, kill the members of the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil lust, and covetousness. Covetousness is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:1,2,5) sleeping. The eternal value of heaven must be planted on this earth.
To put it simply, you must have a thorough awareness that what you thought was a treasure before you believed in Jesus was nothing but mixed things when you believed in Jesus. So now, the kind of treasure that my heart keeps focusing on must be completely different from before. “Whatever was useful to me, I count it all as loss for the sake of Christ, and I count everything as loss because of the exaltation of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. to be discovered.” (Ephesians 3:7-9) Paul’s confession must be a vivid and unchanging confession of the believer himself.
However, only your values and outlook on life should not change. Jesus clearly told us to build it up in heaven (actually on earth). After believing in Jesus, we must bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, preach the word of reconciliation, and expand the kingdom of God by realizing it from the community to which we belong. First, we need to start with the seemingly insignificant things, such as serving the least of a cup of cold water, one by one. This is because building up means doing small things one at a time several times, not doing big things all at once.
The meaning of Jesus telling us to lay up treasures in heaven is different. What we do on earth must become good fruits and are stored up in heaven. It does not simply mean that reward and punishment are discriminated after death for good deeds during life. What a believer does is that God knows everything, and God's will is accomplished through what they do. In reality, God is in control of the believer's work, but in reality, it seems that the heavens are moved by the work done by humans.
A man said that he could take one thing of this earth to heaven, and when he died, he disposed of all his possessions and exchanged all of it with pure gold. It's not Peter, but gold is a packaging material that is spread on the ground here, so why did you bring it so heavy? Everything in the sky just won't mix. Everything that comes from God is good and never mixes. So, if you are confident that not only God is with you in what you are doing now, but you are doing what He has asked you to do, that is to lay up treasures in heaven.
If you encourage people to give the best and best for church events, you are dividing the treasure into only the spatial concept of the church and the world. In that sense, we should rather carry the most precious things from the church into the world. The church building should be built frugally and practically, rather than lavishly and grandly. And with donations that limit the appropriate ministry expenses of the church, you must go outside the church to give relief and serve the local community.
We should not lay up earthly treasures in heaven, but heavenly treasures on earth. Before you gather the things of the world and give them to the church, you must properly learn and receive the things of heaven from the church and give them to the world. That is the love and sacrifice in the cross of Christ. That is why we must show realistically that there is another true treasure called Jesus, which is free from moth, rust and thieves in the eyes of the world. There is no other way to stack up treasures in heaven other than this.
6/13/2006