Living 4 Him

“Store your treasures in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:20 (NLT)

Where do you store items at your house?  A roomy closet? A large basement? Garage shelves? Any room in the house?  All of the above?

Jesus has advice about our earthly belongings, drawing our focus to the real treasures in life.  “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21(NLT)

With these words, Jesus invites us to experience a deeper life.  Earthly treasures serve an earthly purpose, but heaven’s treasures fill our hearts with lasting value.  That Jesus would even invite us to gather heaven’s treasures while we are still on earth says much about the generosity and goodness of God. Jesus leads us to treasures beyond our own understanding when we follow the ways of God’s kingdom.

If we opened a heavenly treasure chest, what would we find?

Acts of love

Peaceful memories

Moments of joy

Kindness received and given

Opportunities to experience and share goodness

Two elements of heaven’s treasures emerge. Heaven’s treasures are internal and eternal. Quality motives inside us live forever. And these treasures help us to thrive forever.

The guidance from Jesus, to store treasures in heaven, suggests that our inner spirits will become stronger and more productive.  The Hebrew meaning of treasure uses words like “storehouse” or an “accumulation of wealth”.  If we are to accumulate heaven’s treasures, we realize that one treasure is not enough, but our collecting must be an on-going flow.  For this we switch to the English meaning of treasure which can be a noun or a verb and we store up heaven’s treasures by treasuring our treasures.

We treasure by giving thanks. 

Gratitude allows us to revisit special memories, important moments, and experience the love or the peace or the joy all over again. 

Gratitude presents a way to ponder God’s greatness and the storehouse of goodness he gives.

Gratitude stores our best moments, our best motives, our best treasures in the very best place; our hearts. What a glorious, energizing way to live! Treasuring the prizes God has bestowed upon us!

We treasure Jesus’ teachings and guidance.

We treasure our gift of salvation.

We treasure relationships with our families.

We treasure meaningful friendships.

We treasure the majesty of creation.

We treasure fun celebrations.

We treasure God’s presence in our lives. 

And most of all, we treasure the peaceful perfection of heaven that awaits us when our earthly journey is complete.

I love this quote from a Christmas card my aunt sent me: This Christmas as you consider all the awesome things that have come to you through Jesus Christ, God’s perfect gift, remember that it is but a taste of the all the good things that are yet to come.

A bounty of treasure exists for us on this earth.  As Jesus invites us to store heavenly treasures, give thanks for your blessings and accumulate a storehouse of love, peace, joy, kindness, and goodness in your heart.

**Enjoy a bonus poem below to help remind you to treasure God’s love for you everyday!

Reaching in (allowing God’s word to work in your soul): Reread today’s passage, Matthew 6:19-21, part of a larger message from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  What does Jesus want you to treasure about these words?

For extra study, visit the end of the shepherds visit in Luke 2: 17-20 and note in verse 20 how Mary treasured all of these things in her heart. Imagine what Mary treasured in her heart from those moments.   What do you treasure from these words?

Reaching out (taking God’s word into the world):  Establish a treasure time each day.  Take time to reflect on the ways God has blessed your life and give thanks!

God’s Waterfall by Janice M. Gibson

Like a waterfall,

God’s love shall be,

cascading, flowing, all around me.

Never ceasing, running free . . .

Creating beautiful places in me.