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Thursday, March 6, 2014

Laying Up Treasure (Pt. 1)


(Part 1)

“Do not 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 moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”                                                                                                                          Matthew 6:19-21

There are two parallel paths that are being revealed to us here in this passage. One has to do with accumulation and the other with giving. 

Laying up treasure on earth has to do with accumulation. It is taking what has been given to us by God and stockpiling it for our own comfort, well being, or advantage. When we lay up treasures on earth we are communicating that we have placed a tremendous value on material possessions, money, and resources. 

Jesus spoke to the futility of this in Parable of the Rich Fool found in Luke 12:16-21. In this parable, a rich man yielded an abundant harvest. His harvest was so plentiful that he did not have room enough for it all. His solution was to tear down his current barns and build bigger ones, so that he would have plenty of room for his surplus. In his heart he said, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Unfortunately, that very night his life was demanded of him and what he had laid up for himself was now of no value to him any longer:

“This is how it will be with whoever stores things up for themselves but is not rich toward God.”   
                                                                                                                                  Luke 12:21
The rich fool was not a fool because he was wealthy, he was a fool because he valued his wealth more than he valued the things of God. Jesus was right when He declared in Luke 12:15: “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
This drive to possess things, that seems to plague our culture, is very much a spiritual issue with spiritual implications:


“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.”                                                                                                                           Matthew 6:22-24

Material things, wealth, money, and resource become what the scripture calls “Mammon” when they become the object of our worship an devotion. We may not recognize that we are worshiping a false god, however, there are signs to look for to alert us if we are trending in that direction. Are we placing our trust in it to meet our needs? Are we looking for peace and happiness through it? Are we looking to it to guarantee our future and give us a sense of security? Do we desire it more than we desire God? If any of these things are true, we are wading into dangerous territory.  

Many of us, because we do not live a life of extravagance, believe that this part of the passage does not relate to us. However, what Jesus told us to consider was not the ostentatious lifestyle of those who drive exotic cars, own summer homes, and wear expensive jewelry. What Jesus told us to evaluate was our unhealthy preoccupation with food and clothing:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”

                                                                                                                                Matthew 6:25 
Some may argue that pursuit of food and clothing should not be used as a gauge in determining what is valuable to us, because they are considered necessities. However, our indulgence in the area of food and clothing testify against us that we do not simply pursue them solely for survival, but to meet our own personal desire.


Pastor Scott Burr

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