19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… 24 No
one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon. Matt 6:19-21, 24
Do you long for
Jesus’s return? If not the reason may be that
you’re too busy building your own kingdom and not the Lord’s. Are you so
busy acquiring treasure, or so preoccupied with your own hopes and dreams
that you’re not thinking of the Lord’s return? Perhaps you prefer
He wait a little while. It’s not that we don’t want the Lord to come back, we’d
just prefer Him to delay His coming until we’re done acquiring and
enjoying our treasure.
The wealth and luxury
of America can be a trap. We spend our lives chasing treasure. When we get it,
the treasure starts to rust. If rust doesn’t get it, thieves will. Even the threat of our treasure being stolen
causes us to live in a state of paranoia. For some reason, though, we never catch on. Instead, we pray to God
for the money to rust proof our treasure, or we pray that He will protect our
treasure from thieves. This is no way to live.
Jesus tells us to store up our
treasure in Heaven. In doing so our hearts will be where they belong--with Him.
How do you store up treasure in Heaven? You can either seek to serve the
Kingdom of Heaven, or you can serve your own kingdom. In serving your own
kingdom you acquire treasure for your pleasure on Earth. In
serving Jesus, in dedicating yourself to the advancement of the Kingdom of
Heaven, you are storing up treasure in Heaven. The treasure you store up in
Heaven is rust-proof, can’t be stolen and is eternal. Whose
kingdom are you serving?
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