“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Shortly after each of our four sons was born, Lorene and I began a college savings fund for each boy. While we could not afford to put much into those funds, we hoped that what little we could invest would be able to grow over time. And it did! This fall our second son, Jesse, will head off to college – and while his fund covers only a fraction of the total cost of his education – it certainly will help. The interesting thing is that, from the time we started investing in college funds, I never resented the reduction in our expendable income that those investments represented. Where I hated spending money to make car repairs, exactly the opposite was true when it came to our college funds. I enjoyed making those investments because my heart and treasure were both committed to my sons!
Here Jesus is, in a sense, offering us a unique kind of investment strategy. Notice that the issue is not our “treasure” – Jesus assumes that we will each possess treasure, or money. Rather, the issue is where we store up our treasure – or where we invest our treasure. Most of us invest our treasure in homes, cars, clothing, retirement, college funds and more. But Jesus is inviting us to invest in heaven! What does it mean to “store up treasure in heaven”?
Obviously, we store up treasure in heaven when we accept God’s gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We also store up treasure in heaven when we serve others here on earth in the name of Jesus. But I think Jesus is also saying that we store up treasure when we put our wealth – our money - in the service of his kingdom and his purposes. When we give as an act of worship – we store up treasure in heaven. When we contribute to the material needs of others – we store up treasure in heaven. When our generosity results in the good news of God’s love and salvation being shared with others – we store up treasure in heaven.
So, let me ask you – how’s your investment strategy going? If there is an account with your name on it in heaven – is that account healthy and growing? Do you make regular deposits in the only account that is guaranteed to grow forever?
We all invest our treasure in many ways – and many of our earthly investments are necessary and important. Jesus is reminding us, however, to make sure that a heavenly investment strategy is an intentional part of our portfolio – because only that which is invested with and for him will endure for eternity. Everything else we gain or accomplish in this life will simply fade away.
Ask God to help you trust Jesus at his word – and to help you establish your own eternal investment plan!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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