Treasures in Heaven
Treasures in Heaven
Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
This is God’s world. He created it. It is designed to work the way he intended. God created you. You are designed to work the way he intended. When you follow God’s principles, he promotes you and rewards you both spiritually and naturally. When you follow the ways of the world, you receive the rewards of the world that are meaningless and pass away.
Which would you rather have, God’s rewards or the world’s rewards? Whether you know it or not, you have already made a choice. We all have. There is no gray area. Either we are serving God, or we are serving the devil by pursuing our own worldly desires. The real question is, have you made the right choice?
The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12:13-21
(Interpretation highlighted)
13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
“Jesus, make my brother share the inheritance with me!”
14Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
Jesus replied, “Who made me the judge between you and your brother? Why should I be the one to decide this matter?”
15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Jesus said, “Be careful not to be greedy. Life is not about having a lot of money and stuff.”
16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
If you are not careful, you will spend your life working to get rich and buy stuff and die without being able to enjoy them. Your life will be a waste if you value anything more than you value God.
Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Do not focus on acquiring worldly possessions and wealth for yourself, because these things are meaningless and will not last. Focus instead on following God and working for his kingdom. Then you will be blessed on earth and receive an eternal reward in heaven.
21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Your heart is in the thing you love the most. If you love money, your heart is in money. If you love God, your heart is in God. It cannot be in both.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
If your heart is full of Godly desires, you will live a good and prosperous life. If your heart is full of worldly desires and concerns, you will be consumed by the things of the world and live in the darkness of the world.
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
You have to choose who will control you, God or the world and the desires of life. You cannot serve them both.
Romans 6:16
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
You cannot serve two masters. Either you will serve the world by following your own desires, remain in sin and be lead to death or you will serve God, be free from sin and live a righteous and fulfilling life.
Mark 10:21
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Jesus is saying not to let your money and your worldly possessions be your God. If your money and possessions separate you from God; if you spend most of your time obtaining money and things; if your desire for money distracts you from following God, then it is better for you to give it away and follow God instead. When you follow God, you receive eternal rewards, which are far better than the temporary comforts your money can buy.
Luke 12:33-34
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
God is not saying that you should live a life of poverty. He is saying that you should not let your wealth and your desire for wealth keep you from serving him completely. He wants us to prosper here on earth so that we can share our prosperity with others and help them to prosper also. He does not want us to “treasure” our possessions and waste our lives trying to obtain more. God intends for us to desire him most of all. He does not want us to let anything separate us from him.
Psalm 37:4-6
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
When we are faithful to God and focus on doing his works, he takes pleasure in rewarding us with the things we desire. We receive gifts for being faithful.
Summary:
We should not let anything get between God and us. Our main priority is God and fulfilling his purpose for our lives. When we put God first in our lives, not only do we receive the joy that comes from serving him, but he also rewards us by giving us our desires. With God, we cannot lose. With the world, we cannot win. Choose right, choose life!
