Tag Archives: treasures in heaven

LUKE’S GOSPEL…WINDOW OF THE SOUL – 30b

Bible Study, ,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “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!…”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭23 NIV‬‬

Jesus said, according to Luke, that people are full of darkness when they judge others for their sin but fail to see how sinful they are. Just like Jonah…who hated the Ninevites for their wickedness but forgot about God’s mercy…

However, in Matthew’s gospel, he included Jesus’ teaching about the eye of light in His “Sermon on the Mount” discourse. 

According to Matthew, Jesus said that the way we view our money will reveal whom we really love. If we see our money as a servant, we will love God and use money to serve Him. If we love money, we will use God to serve money. 

“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 money.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, Matthew’s version of Jesus’ judgment on the Pharisees’ attitude to money was…they used their “generosity” to parade their righteousness. 

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus said, ”Use your money to show that you love God.” 

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Both of these examples help us understand how vital it is to evaluate what is important to us in life through the lens of truth.  Luke says that we can judge others by our own standard of righteousness, seeing ourselves as not guilty and better than others. Matthew says that we can see our money as our master and serve it by being hoarding it or we can serve God by using money to serve others. 

There is a way to keep our wealth safe by storing it in the “bank of heaven” where it cannot erode or be corrupted…that is, by using it to serve others. This may seem foolish and contradictory. How can we grow our wealth giving it away? 

As always, life in God’s kingdom involves a partnership with God in faith and obedience. We need faith, to accept that what God says is true and obedience to act on it even if it seems foolish. God’s ways are not our ways. His economic system is based on His own character of generosity… “righteousness” in Hebrew…doing the right thing in every situation. 

So, even King David could say…

“The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously…I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭21‬, ‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

With a perspective that sees need rather than greed, the eyes of the heart can see farther, wider, and deeper…and can share God’s heart for those who suffer regardless of who they are. The system of God’s kingdom is simple…if you meet a need when you have a need, God’s provision flows to you to fill the gap. It’s called “currency”. 

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭

To b continued…

JESUS TEACHES US ABOUT MONEY

Christian life, ,

JESUS TEACHES US ABOUT MONEY

“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 moth 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 5:19-21.

Jesus had a lot to say about money because money rules our lives. Without money, we cannot live. We need money for everything we do – we buy food and clothing; we pay rent for our home, or we buy a property if we have enough money; we need money to pay school fees for our children, for fuel for our vehicles or for bus or train fares, and so on. Unless we are like the animals who live off the land, we all need money.

The problem is that we never seem to have enough. However much or little we have, we always need a little more. One of the reasons is that we have the wrong idea about money and the wrong attitude to our money and possessions. Jesus taught His disciples, and that’s us too if we truly want to follow Him, how to handle our money so that we will always have enough.

It may sound crazy, but Jesus said that the best way to have enough money is to give some of it away. Like anything we hoard, what we selfishly keep for ourselves will get stale, become rotten or get stolen. The best way to save our money is to put it in the bank of heaven. There it cannot get stolen. Jesus said it this way:

How can we store up treasure in heaven? There is no “Bank of Heaven” in town where we can deposit our money.

Money is the currency we work with on earth and faith is the currency of heaven. To protect what we own, which belongs to God because He gave it to us to use as He directs us, we have to become partners with God. Every time we help someone in need, we make a deposit in our heavenly “bank account”.  When we are in need and we ask God for help, He prompts someone who is listening to Him to give to us because we have a deposit in our account.

This is the way God has chosen to keep His resources circulating. He gives us the strength and skill to earn a salary, but He also tells us how we must use that money. If we use it all up on ourselves and do nothing to help another person in need, we have nothing to draw from when we need extra money. When we put a deposit on heaven by giving some of our money away, God will take care of us when a crisis arises, and we don’t have enough money to pay.

Jesus said that if we are selfish and greedy, we have a “dark” eye. That means that we are always looking after ourselves and care nothing for other people. If we are generous, we have an “eye of light”. That means that we can see beyond the end of our own noses. If we only live to make money so that we can become rich, we cannot serve God as well. We will serve what we love – either God or money, not both.

Disciples are to be like God the Father and Jesus, His Son – generous and kind to everyone.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.