Bless the Lord, O my soul,   
And all that is within me,   
bless His holy name.   
Bless the Lord, O my soul,   
And forget none of His benefits.   
- Psalms 103:1-2   
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Where Are Your Treasures?

Jesus, in delivering what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, stated to the disciples, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).  Regardless of where we live, work, or in what circumstances we may be in, we all have treasures.  That is, there are things that we value.  There are things we count as being of worth to us. 

            Jesus is teaching the disciples that it is important to be concerned about spiritual things.  We live in a day and time where many individuals are overly concerned about carnal things.  Men today are striving diligently to see just how big a house they can build for themselves, having the most expensive car on the block or wearing the most expensive clothes, and so on.  While there is not anything wrong with homes or vehicles in and of themselves, it is wrong to place more value upon these things than our servitude to God.  This is certainly made clear in Matthew 6:33 when Jesus stated, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  We have to be determined that we will seek things of God above things of the world.

            Although there is nothing wrong with being rich, being such does come with dangers.  The rich are presented with the temptation to have a love of that wealth above a love of God.  Paul told Timothy the love of money was the root of evil and caused many to err from the faith (1 Timothy 6:10).  Don’t allow yourself to be in a position where you cherish worldly riches over God!

            In Luke chapter 12 beginning in verse 16, Jesus taught a parable about a certain rich man (v.16).  Jesus said this man had so much that he stated he had nowhere to store his goods and was in need of tearing down the old barns in order to erect new ones (vs. 18,19).  Notice in verse 19 what this man said, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thing ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”  Sounds like people today doesn’t it?  Yet this man’s thinking was called foolish by the Lord (v. 20).  Notice what Jesus said, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (v.21).  We need to be concerned about where our treasures lie.  Are you rich toward God?  Do you strive to live in accordance to his commands as revealed in the New Testament?  If not, why not? 

            True happiness does not lie within what few scraps of material goods we can gatherer while here upon the Earth.  Listen to the Master Teacher, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness:  for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).  Regardless of how much wealth we have in this life, we cannot take it with us.  Job stated this fact in Job 1:21.

            Jesus said where our treasure is our heart will be as well.  In others words, wherever your interests lie that will be where you devote your time and effort.  You are either interested in spiritual things or carnal things.  We need to do as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 4:18.

            If we lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven they will be there.  We don’t have to worry about the thieves taking them from us.  If we have lived our life in such a way that we will receive that crown of life it will be there.  No doubt the words of Paul were comforting to Timothy as they are to us when we read about his crown that awaited him (2 Timothy 4:8).

            You can become a Christian today through hearing, believing, repenting, confessing Christ and being baptized into him.  There is danger in delay!              Don’t put it off!  If you have obeyed, then remain "stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58).

- Donnie Oliver



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