 By James H. Cagle |
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6: 19-21KJV).
There are only two places where a Christian can build or horde up treasures. Those two places according to Scripture are Heaven and earth. There is material temporal wealth and treasures that is and stays on earth and there is spiritual eternal wealth and treasure waiting in Heaven for the Christian. Worldly success stays behind when we enter Heaven but what we succeeded in doing for Christ while on earth will bring reward in Heaven.
If a Christian lays up treasure on earth they may lose it while they live in many different ways that wealth is lost. And they will definitely lose it all when they leave this world for we take nothing with us when we leave this world. The only treasure that is safe now and for all eternity is that treasure that is laid up in Heaven.
People lay up treasure on earth to improve their earthly status and Christians lay up treasure in Heaven to improve their Heavenly status. Though all Christians are positionally the same before God in Christ, there will be some Christians who receive greater rewards than others and who are elevated to higher positions of administration once Christ sets up His rule because they turned their back on the things of the world and invested their earthly life to become rich in Christ (Mt. 24: 21, 23).
The heart is the inner man, the actual man, the spiritual man with all its activities. The activities of the heart are planning, intentions, memory, thought, emotion, conscience, and reasoning. The heart is where a man’s treasure is because it is with the heart that he thinks about his treasure, thinks about how to protect it, plans on how to build it, and thinks about how he will spend and invest it or use it. He is fixated on his wealth and spends his days thinking about how he can protect, build, and spend his money. He also worries about losing it. His material wealth in this way is a real distraction.
If a man’s treasure is on the earth his heart will be there brooding over it and he will not be able to focus on heavenly things. If a man’s treasure is in Heaven his heart will not be focused on earthly things but will be seeking those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God (Col. 3: 1, 2).
