Where is Your Heart?
Matthew 6:19-24 (CSB)
“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Reflection
Jesus delivered these words during the most famous message ever preached, which we know as the Sermon on the Mount. The overall theme of that message is kingdom-living versus earth-living. Jesus is very clear throughout the New Testament that kingdom-living is all about your heart; it’s what God looks at above everything else.
It is so easy to become engrossed in daily earth-living and forget that we are an eternal spirit called for kingdom-living. We all have legitimate responsibilities related to our physical life that take up our resources. We spend a lot of them providing for ourselves and our families: our houses, food, cars, phones, clothes, pets, etc., all of which require additional resources to maintain. There are certainly necessities we can’t live without, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about here.
Jesus wants to radically shift our focus from our life on earth to His eternal kingdom. He teaches us that, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (verse 21). The Message translation of this verse goes even further: “It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” When you spend your resources, you are broadcasting the location of your heart.
The only way you can take your money to heaven is by investing your resources in kingdom purposes on earth. This means faithfully giving to God what He has commanded in the form of a tithe, which includes your finances, time, energy, talents, possessions, skills, and passions. God’s kingdom also includes extreme generosity and excitement to, “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (verse 20). Heaven is going to be wonderful, so let’s take as many people with us as we can by giving Him all we’ve got!
Action Step
Where are you repeatedly and consistently investing your money? Is it obvious that you are living for God’s kingdom or your kingdom? Ask God to help you realign your earthly priorities if your honest answers to these questions don’t honor Him.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, reveal to me what my treasure says about my heart. I want to serve You and You alone, and I’m sorry that I don’t always do that. Forgive me for trying to maintain control of my resources. I surrender them, especially my money, to you, God. Use them to bring about Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Reflection
Jesus delivered these words during the most famous message ever preached, which we know as the Sermon on the Mount. The overall theme of that message is kingdom-living versus earth-living. Jesus is very clear throughout the New Testament that kingdom-living is all about your heart; it’s what God looks at above everything else.
It is so easy to become engrossed in daily earth-living and forget that we are an eternal spirit called for kingdom-living. We all have legitimate responsibilities related to our physical life that take up our resources. We spend a lot of them providing for ourselves and our families: our houses, food, cars, phones, clothes, pets, etc., all of which require additional resources to maintain. There are certainly necessities we can’t live without, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about here.
Jesus wants to radically shift our focus from our life on earth to His eternal kingdom. He teaches us that, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (verse 21). The Message translation of this verse goes even further: “It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” When you spend your resources, you are broadcasting the location of your heart.
The only way you can take your money to heaven is by investing your resources in kingdom purposes on earth. This means faithfully giving to God what He has commanded in the form of a tithe, which includes your finances, time, energy, talents, possessions, skills, and passions. God’s kingdom also includes extreme generosity and excitement to, “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (verse 20). Heaven is going to be wonderful, so let’s take as many people with us as we can by giving Him all we’ve got!
Action Step
Where are you repeatedly and consistently investing your money? Is it obvious that you are living for God’s kingdom or your kingdom? Ask God to help you realign your earthly priorities if your honest answers to these questions don’t honor Him.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, reveal to me what my treasure says about my heart. I want to serve You and You alone, and I’m sorry that I don’t always do that. Forgive me for trying to maintain control of my resources. I surrender them, especially my money, to you, God. Use them to bring about Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
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