Wholehearted Contribution Series

You have an option to choose between two treasuries: one on earth, and the other in heaven. And this is true for every person. You may not have thought about it before, but Jesus is saying very clearly and very directly to you and to me: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

A. Earthly Treasures

Jesus uses an interesting wordplay in this dialogue. The Greek word for treasures is thesaurous, from which we get our English word “thesaurus.” A thesaurus is, of course, a treasury of words. The idea behind the Greek word is something “which is of exceptional value and kept safe,” and “a stockpiling of valuables.” The Greek word for lay up is thesaurizete, which is the verbal form of thesauros. So, a literal translation of the Greek for this phrase is, “Do not treasure up treasures for yourselves on earth.” In other words, “Do not stockpile wealth for yourselves on earth.”

What then was Jesus forbidding? Was Jesus forbidding a checking account, a savings account, an insurance policy, a wise investment, or a retirement fund? When Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (6:19a), does he mean that you should not possess anything?

No. Jesus never condemns possessions.

“But,” someone says, “what about the rich young ruler? Jesus told him to sell everything.” Yes, that is true. And the reason Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything is because his wealth stood between him and God. Jesus knew that the rich young ruler’s heart was in his earthly possessions. And until he got rid of it, he could not have a relationship with God.

What Jesus is saying and what the rest of the Bible makes patently clear is that God owns everything. You and are I are simply stewards of everything that rightly belongs to God. And if my heart belongs to God, and I know that God owns everything, and that I am simply a steward of God’s possessions, then what should be my response if God were to come to me and say, “Freddy, I want you to sell all that you have and follow me”?

My response should be, “Yes, Lord, I have absolute confidence that you will take care of me. I will trust you to provide for all of my daily needs.”

Now the person who says “I will not sell everything” is in fact saying, “I do not trust God. I do not trust that he will provide for my daily necessities.”

And if a person says that, then is he really a Christian?

Now, Jesus does in fact call some people to sell everything and live by faith. That is how missionaries live. They are trusting that God will provide for their daily necessities through the support of his people.

But, for most of us, Jesus calls us to manage the resources that he entrusts to us. And in this country he entrusts an enormous amount of resources to us. And out of all the resources that he entrusts to us, he says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.”

Now, let me be clear and say again that Jesus is not forbidding the use of possessions. It is right and proper to provide for your family. It is right to plan for the future. It is right to make wise investments. It is right to have money to conduct business.