Treasures in Heaven

Downloadable Reflection Guide

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.

There are a number of ways in which you can get an accurate gauge of the priorities of the people around you. One way is to examine the way in which they spend their time. A close look at someone’s personal schedule may give a hint about what they value. Additionally, a tour around a friend’s house might give us a vision of the things that they love. What kind of artwork is on the wall? Even the layout of their house may give us a clue.

Jesus here challenges us to be real with ourselves and others. When we go through life unreflectively adding things to our calendars we may not take the time to see the trends. Likewise, unless we examine our spending habits with an eye toward what they say about what we love, we may not fully realize where our hearts truly are.

When you examine the time you spend in God’s Word, does it appear that you are “laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven”?  Now I don’t want to unduly pile on the guilt, because the reality is that many if not most of us struggle in some form to maintain or even establish a healthy Scriptural devotional life. Our lives seem to just be too full of things needing our attention. A quote attributed to Martin Luther encapsulates his approach to organizing his time. “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Luther actually dedicated more time to prayer and time in God’s Word when he was busy than when he was not. If you have ever seen the large number of volumes in his collected works, you understand that this was not a person who found himself with little to do all that often.

When we place the Word of God deliberately and with prayerful reflection in our hearts, we are preparing ourselves for the challenges that come from a life lived in a sinful world. These treasures for heaven are little glimpses of heaven here on earth that points us to our eternal home. If our heart is focused on God’s Word those other priorities will find their more rightful place in our lives. Not excluded, but not crowding out that which is of eternal significance.

Thoughts for Reflection

What is one way that you have been able to or desire to make storing up God’s Word in your heart a priority?