For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. – Matthew 6:21
If there is anything people of the world learned during the COVID pandemic, it is how quickly life can be turned upside down. Interwoven into the economic meltdown were disruptions of plans, isolation, unexplainable episodes of anxiety, and the uncertainty of the future. It taught the value of family and community, the importance of accountability within government, and the personal need to be ready for “the next one.” The pandemic threatened the prosperity and well-being of nearly every individual in the United States, and the financial distress in its aftermath is still upon many Americans.
It is not wrong to treasure or value your family, nor is it wrong to make provision for the future. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does not forbid private ownership of property, saving or investing, or having nice things. But their worth to you must not exceed your love for God. Warren Wiersbe cautions that “if the heart loves material things, and puts earthly gain above heavenly investments, then the result can only be a tragic loss. The treasures of earth may be used for God. But if we gather material things for ourselves, we will lose them; and we will lose our hearts with them. Instead of spiritual enrichment, we will experience impoverishment.”
Theologian Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Whatever our treasure be, it will occupy the supreme place in our affections, and engage in its service the noblest powers of our souls. … Whatever we make to be our treasure will be sure to become the attraction of our heart. If we accumulate earthly riches, our hearts will by degrees be tied up in our money-bags; and, on the other hand, if our chief possessions are in heavenly things, our hearts will rise into the higher and more spiritual region. The position of the heart is sure to be affected by the place where the treasure is laid up.” Cultivate a thankful heart for what you do have, then pray that the Lord would direct you to its highest and best use for His kingdom. Always keep your hope in Him and not your things.
Today’s Verse: Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
