Laying up Treasures
Matthew 6:19-34
The Lord Jesus told the disciples, “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 neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).
A preoccupation with hoarding earthly treasure makes little practical sense. Eternal investments, investments in the kingdom of heaven, are far more profitable. They are certain, and the benefits long lasting. Earthly investments are short-lived.
There are, as we know, various kinds of wealth, and Jesus reminded His disciples how each form of wealth was subject to loss of value. Clothing was considered one form of wealth in the near East (Joshua 7:21; 2 Kings 5:22). In some cultures today clothing is a form of wealth, or at least a symbol of wealth. However, such wealth is short-lived. Just one of the destructive forces at work in this area is the moth. No matter how hard we try to avoid it, the moth gets into our most precious and valuable clothing and eats holes in it.
Rust can and does consume any metal forms of wealth. That is one reason why you and I have to keep buying new cars from time to time. It is doubtful, however, that rust is the primary image in our Lord’s mind. “Rust” is literally that which “eats” or “corrodes.” More likely one’s wealth would be, in those days, in the form of grain that would be stored until the price was high enough to make a good profit. Any foodstuff would be the target for vermin to get into and to contaminate or consume.
The indestructible forms of wealth such as jewels or silver or gold are not so secure either. Burglars and thieves could, in those days, quite easily “break in” and steal them. Literally, this expression, “break in” meant to dig through. This was easily accomplished when walls were made of sun-dried bricks or mud. Even today, our most secure vaults are not burglarproof.
In verse 21, Jesus tells us why we should not store up treasures on earth. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Generally, we are inclined to think just the reverse of this. We suppose that a man will first fix his heart on something and then his money naturally follows. However, our Lord says that our heart follows our pocketbook.
Where we spend our money, where we appropriate our material goods and our personal time, is where our heart will be. We might apply this principle to marriage. To the extent that we invest heavily, both in time and in money, we will find our affections more and more developed and committed.
To store up treasures on earth is to set our heart on earthly things. It is difficult, even impossible, to desire the return of our Lord when we have made all of our investments in earthly things. Not only this but we also tend to put our trust, our confidence and hope in our investments. The great difficulty of the rich is that they are deceived into “fixing their hope on the uncertainty of riches” (1 Timothy 6:17).
Jesus is not telling us we are forbidden to enjoy many of life’s pleasures, but that we view them as temporary and, in the long term, unsatisfying. Consequently, we choose to deny ourselves of some things in order to gain that which is greater.
In verses 22 and 23 Jesus tells the disciples, “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.”
To the ancient mind, the eye was like a window that let light into the body. The condition or health of the eye determined the amount of light that entered the body. An unhealthy eye clouded or dimmed the entering light, subjecting the body to darkness. In the Bible, the eye represents a man’s character (Deuteronomy 25:12; 28:54, 56). A man with an “evil eye” is one who is greedy and miserly when confronted with the need of another:
“A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth, and does not know that want will come upon him” (Proverbs 28:22).
The one whose heart is set on worldly riches has an evil eye. In looking out for himself, he neglects the needs of others. The one who is generous with others has a healthy eye. His vision of the needs about him is not distorted. He views his material wealth as belonging to God, and he quickly and willingly employs it to help those in need.
The point of this principle is the love of money is not some minor flaw in the thinking of man. It is like a virus that has entered into the bloodstream. It affects the whole person. The love of money has far-reaching effects. Where we store up treasures is where our heart is drawn to and we invest most heavily.
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Put in its simplest form, “Money is either your slave or your master.” Money is like the fleshly desires. Either we will master them, or they will be our master. One may try to deceive himself into believing that he can pursue both goals simultaneously, God and money. However, our Lord said only one will be our Master.
It is difficult for the Western mind to grasp the meaning of our Lord’s words. Many of us have second jobs. We may leave one job in the evening and go on to another at night. However, the language our Lord used was that of slave and master. A slave was the exclusive property of one master. He had no time of his own. His master could dispose of him as he wished.
Perhaps an analogy that might be easier to understand is that of drug addiction. At first, a man begins to use drugs, but eventually they use him. His body builds up a tolerance for a certain quantity of a drug and he finds he must have more and more. Finally, the drug is his master and he is its slave. The more money one gets, the more one desires. This is what our Lord is saying. Storing up treasures on earth is dangerous and destructive because they take complete control over the one that should be the master.
In His instructions to the disciples, Jesus warned us we should not view our material possessions as a means of ensuring comfort and security in this earthly life. Instead, we should invest in eternal things, for such an investment is secure and the benefits everlasting.
Most people are inclined to think storing up earthly treasures as the inordinate desire to become wealthy for selfish ends. In other words, storing up earthly treasures is equated with financial ambition and prosperity. We who are storing up heavenly treasures often do not think storing up earthly treasures is a problem to us. However, storing up earthly treasures has two distinct forms. The first and most obvious is that dealt with in verses 19-24, the love of money that becomes the dominant and all-consuming passion of our lives. Most of us are not as close to the fire of this temptation as we are its opposite side. Rather than being absorbed in the hoarding of the material things we possess, we are consumed with concern about that which we do not possess.
However, most Christians are more concerned about those things that are not optional, but mandatory, not the luxuries, but the necessities. Notice what Jesus told the disciples, “do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not your life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
In His instructions to the disciples, Jesus addresses the distracting and devastating worry that undermines our faith and diverts our spiritual energy. Faith is not contrary to sound thinking; rather it is to be rooted in thought. In fact, our Lord is urging us to use our heads and not to panic. We are to consider the birds of the air (v 26) and the flowers of the field (v 28). We are shown that worry is both illogical and unprofitable. Worry is not to be confused with thinking and planning to meet future needs. Worry is not to be confused with genuine concern. Rather, worry is the preoccupation and dissipation of our mental and physical powers with things that are future, hypothetical, and beyond our control. Worry is the opposite of faith. Faith perceives potential problems with a view to the infinite power and fatherly concern of the God who has saved us. Worry sees only the obstacles, (actual or imaginary, and meditates on all the possible disastrous possibilities, while neglecting the fact of God’s divine care and control in our lives. In verses 25-32, our Lord outlined the reasons why worry is both foolish and faithless.
“Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25).
If God is our Creator and He has given us life, will He not also provide the incidentals such as food and clothing? This is the kind of argument Paul employed in Romans chapter 8: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
This is a valid argument, but this is not the main point in Jesus’ instructions to the disciples. Jesus is focusing upon the issue of priorities. Storing up earthly treasures is a reversal of priorities. It places the temporal above eternal things. It is shortsighted, and misses the long view of matters. It is this world centered. Jesus wants us to rethink our priorities. Worry is preoccupation with matters of lowest priority. Worry is a symptom of reversed priorities, and our Lord calls this to our attention. Worry is a failure to see things as they really are.
“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” (v 26).
Look about you. Look up in the skies and look at the birds. Do they spend hours in worry and anxiety? No, even by instinct they live their lives in thoughtless dependence upon God. Has God failed to care for insignificant birds? If He cares for birds, which are creatures of much less value than man, will He not care for you? To the birds, God is both Creator and Sustainer. To the Christian, God is our Heavenly Father. Dare we doubt His care? Worry does not see matters clearly. It allows our vision of our Heavenly Father to be obscured. It overlooks the providential care of God for insignificant creatures, such as the birds.
Worry is a waste of energy, “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
Worry is the most unproductive use of one’s time. It accomplishes nothing but unbelief, doubt and fear. It distracts our attention from matters of higher priority and paralyzes us from doing what is needful now. It fears what could be rather than what should be done. It is a proven fact worry can shorten life and undermine our health.
Worry is an act of unbelief, worrying over what we will wear is surely unfounded. Look around; consider the wild flowers of the field. Do they fret and fume? Look at their beauty. Even Solomon’s clothing was no match. Indeed, good clothing can do little but to attempt to imitate nature’s beauty. The beauty which God has given these wild flowers is all the more impressive when you realize how temporary and expendable such flowers are. They are magnificent in their beauty for a short while and then they are gone. Men value them so little that they gather handfuls of the dried grass to throw into the ovens to increase their heat. If these flowers are so insignificant and yet God gives them such beauty, will He not care for His own?
The issue, then, is more than one of mere lack of knowledge; it is lack of faith: “will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30). Worry is a serious sin because it doubts the goodness and the integrity of God. In effect, we disregard the word of God and call Him a liar when we worry. We question His sovereignty, His omniscience, His omnipotence, His tender love and care for His own. Worry is very unbecoming to the child of God. It completely forgets that God is our Heavenly Father.
Jesus told the disciples, “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things.”
Jesus said that when we worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear we are acting just as the pagans do. These things dominate the thinking and the striving of the non-believer, if you do not believe this just look at the media and its advertising. They try to sell us deodorant to cover our body odor, after-shave lotion to make us irresistible, toothpaste that gives our mouth sex appeal, and clothing that makes us look suave and sophisticated. Food, drink and clothing these are the priorities of the world. When we become preoccupied with these things, we are just like unbelievers.
Worry is no mere human failing; it is willful sin. It doubts God and dims our view of things as they really are. When you fall into worry, confess it as sin and ask for forgiveness and victory.
Worry can only co-exist with an unbiblical view of God. It cannot tolerate a Sovereign God who is all knowing and all-powerful. It refuses to acknowledge God as a loving Father who knows our every need, and who brings about every situation to strengthen our faith.
Worry, among other things, is the reversal of our priorities involving heavenly and earthly things. Jesus did not say, seek only the kingdom of God, but rather, “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Heavenly things must come first in our priorities. We must see our spiritual lives as of primary importance and our physical life as secondary. Once we have our priorities in order, we shall not worry about those things in life that are beyond our control.
Every one of us is actively pursuing some goal in life. We are all devoted to one thing or another. If we have made our goal the quest for earthly treasures then we must redirect our efforts. The Christian life is not a matter of pursuing earthly treasures it is a matter of actively carrying out the will of God. Therefore, when it comes to the matter of worry we must not waste our energies on worry, but eagerly become involved in the task immediately before us. It is not wrong to be ambitious and aggressive. It is only wrong to pursue the wrong goals.
The Bible teaches us that we must live one day at a time. Christians who live godly lives will have trials and testing. That is a normal part of our Christian experience (Matthew 5:3-12; John 15:20; 2 Corinthians 1:3ff; Philippians 1:29-30; James 1:2ff; 1 Peter 1:6ff.). There will be trials and trouble tomorrow, but these things are beyond our control. God gives us grace and comfort in the time of need. Let us not seek an advance on adversity. We have sufficient troubles today. Let us see to it that we deal with them in such a way that God is glorified.
It is a difficult thing to come to a balanced biblical outlook on material possessions In this passage, the Lord has been dealing with our priorities as they relate to material possessions. Our security is in the Lord, not in our bank account or investment portfolio. Our preoccupation should not be with storing up earthy treasures but with glorifying God and seeking to further His righteous rule on earth.
It is not wrong to have material possessions, but with material possessions comes responsibility, to whom much is given, much is required. Those who have riches are inclined to find in them a false sense of security (1 Timothy 6:17). There is no particular virtue in being poor either. In such a condition, we are sometimes tempted to distrust God or to be dishonest; the right balance is probably best stated in Proverbs 30:8b-9), “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.’”
While we are to be free from worry, we are not exempt from work. Because of the fall, man is to earn a 1iving ‘by the sweat of his brow’ (Genesis 3:17-19). If a man does not work, he should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Many Christians are troubled by the fact that so many of their working hours are consumed by their jobs. How can I have God’s kingdom as a first priority if I spend so much of my time in secular employment. Such distinctions between spiritual and secular are not biblical. Our work is, largely, our ministry. Working is not or should not be the neglecting of our responsibilities to our family, it is meeting our obligation to provide for them (1 Timothy 5:8), and not a denial of the faith.
To seek first the kingdom of God is further explained by the phrase “and His righteousness.” In other words, seeking the kingdom of God is striving to extend and exemplify the righteousness of God on earth. There is no place where exemplifying the righteousness of God is needed than the world of work. Our work is not in competition with our ministry, it is the cornerstone of our ministry.
While hoarding money and material goods is sin, saving for future needs is not. Joseph demonstrated spiritual wisdom and maturity when he recommended the storing up of Egypt’s grain (Genesis 41:33-36, 38). The sluggard is instructed to study the ant, which prepares for the future (Proverbs 6:6ff.). The virtuous woman is commended for preparing for the future (Proverbs 31:21, 25). Christians are encouraged to set money aside to minister to the needs of others (1 Corinthians 16:2). The man who fails to provide for his family has denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8). It is not the method of saving for the future that is condemned by our Lord, but the materialistic motive. Perhaps one of the most deceitful errors among Christians concerning money and material blessings is the false mentality that we are not to enjoy earthly pleasures. This attitude does not originate from God, but from Satan. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4).
Finally, although material possessions are insignificant things, a matter of low priority, the way we handle them is indicative of our faithfulness. Our proper handling of material things shows us to be qualified for greater responsibilities.
Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?” (Luke 16:10-11).
May God help us to be faithful in the use of material possessions.
