Daily Devotional For Monday, January 27, 2028
Merry Monday Morning to you. We are slowly and finally crawling out from being under this winter vortex. I pray that all was well with you during this. We live in a culture that is greedy. Money is our god and we worship it faithfully. It kind of reminds me of the quote from the movie, Wall Street. Godon Gekko, played by Michael Dougals, gives this speech below:
“The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind” (Source: Gordon Gekko).
I have seen in my years in the ministry greed destroy and tear families apart. You live and work your whole life to build a comfortable financial portfolio and once you die, vultures in your family and others go after it with no regard to your wishes and others. Maybe if we spent more of our focus storing up our treasure in heaven than here we might have less of that here. Jesus said this in Matthew 6:20-21:
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; (21) for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (NASB).
Notice, wherever our treasure is, there is where our heart is. It reveals what is really important to us. We can claim Jesus is, but if we are not storing up treasure in heaven, then He does not have our heart. We’ve all read about a person with a modest income who left a fortune to a worthy cause upon their death. Unknown to others, they had lived simply and invested most of their salary, eventually becoming very wealthy. We’ve been told many times that the best way to grow wealth is to save and invest as early as possible and to do it consistently throughout our lives.
Spiritual wealth—"treasures in heaven”—is grown when we choose to use our time, energy, and resources to invest in the things of God. If we wait until the end of our lives and try to make a big investment, the outcome will not be as much as if we had started early and invested consistently. I hope you are not waiting until some future day to invest yourself in God’s Kingdom. I encourage you to begin to take the small steps that will reap great spiritual rewards.
It is amazing what some people store up for their end of life:
“For some motorcycle owners, biking is simply a hobby. For others, it's more than a hobby; it's a way of life. For one Pennsylvania man, however, biking has been both a way of life and a way of death. Arthur Werner Sr., of Steel City, PA, passed away recently after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Before his passing, however, he requested that he would be laid to rest in the sidecar of his 1990 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail.
The funeral home chosen by the family is run by a group of motorcycle enthusiasts, who were honored to comply with the request. The sidecar would not even require any modification for the arrangement, they said. Werner's family says he bought the bike with his retirement bonus after 42 years as a steelworker. His daughter-in-law noted shortly after his passing, "he lived for that bike” (Source: Yahoo News, "Motorcycle Lover to Be Buried In His Harley-Davidson Sidecar," 6-28-17).
We are not to bury our treasure, but to store it in heaven. For years, treasure hunters search for lost or buried treasure. Sometimes they find it and many times they do not. New Testament scholar Bruce Barton writes this about Matthew 6:20-21:
“How does a person lay up … treasures in heaven? Laying or storing up treasures in heaven includes, but is not limited to, tithing our money. It is also accomplished through bringing others to Christ and all acts of obedience to God. That “treasure” is the eternal value of whatever we accomplish on earth. Acts of obedience to God, laid up in heaven, are not susceptible to decay, destruction, or theft. Nothing can affect or change them; they are eternal . . . Jesus warned that people’s hearts tend to be wrapped around their treasures, and few treasure God as they ought. In this startling challenge we again face the tension between actions and words in following Christ. Words become cheap when we tell ourselves we can act one way and believe another. Jesus exposed those who claim to value eternity while living as if there were nothing beyond this world.
Our heart will be with our treasure. The “heart” refers to the mind, emotions, and will. What we treasure most controls us, whether we admit it or not. (This is not limited to financial treasure. Some people treasure their house, car, or children almost to the point of idolatry.) For example, if we lay up treasures on earth in the form of money, our “heart” will be with our money. If our focus is our money, then we will do all we can to make more and more, and we will never have enough. We feel great when our stocks are up; we might feel despair if the stock market declines. We may become stingy, unwilling to give a cent of our amassed fortune, for then we would have one cent less. In short, we forget whose money it really is, the good purposes for which he gave it to us, and the fact that it will not last.
Jesus contrasted heavenly values with earthly values when he explained that our first loyalty should be to those things that do not fade, cannot be stolen or used up, and never wear out. We should not be fascinated with our possessions, lest they possess us. This means that we may have to cut back if our possessions become too important to us. Jesus calls for a decision that allows us to live contentedly with whatever we have because we have chosen what is eternal and lasting” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 120).
One of the points Jesus is making is that God should be our treasure so that our heart is on Him, but the truth is, we often have other treasures – money, investments, hobbies, career, family, friends, sports, etc. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this on Matthew 6:20-21:
“An important point needs to be made here: Jesus wasn’t prohibiting possessions per se. Nowhere does the Bible forbid ownership of property or having possessions. Riches and honor come from God, who ought to be thanked for material blessings when He graciously gives them (1 Chr. 29:12–13). Nor was Jesus warning against planning for the future. Those who would use this passage to teach that buying insurance or investing for retirement constitutes a lack of faith are reading this in a way the Lord didn’t intend. Scripture exhorts us to plan wisely and especially to provide for our families (1 Tim. 5:8; Jas. 4:13–15). The Lord also was not dissuading us from enjoying the gifts He gives us (see 1 Tim. 6:17).
Rather, Jesus was denouncing a life focused on the accumulation of more and more, warning against selfishness and an extravagant lifestyle. He used the term translated “treasures” purposefully. The Greek term thēsauros [2344] is used to refer to the gold, frankincense, and p 119 myrrh given to Jesus by the magi (Matt. 2:11) and to “the treasures of Egypt” that Moses forsook (Heb. 11:26). What is being condemned is a this-worldly hoarding of wealth and riches, setting one’s heart and mind on these things. The Bible is clear that “those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches” are wicked, Ps. 49:5–6” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, pp. 118-119).
Abundant living is investing in something beyond time, and it’s not just about what you do with your money. It has to do with your intention, your talent, your compassion, and your effort. Let’s be disciples of Jesus who invest in the kingdom of God and in heaven.
Questions To Consider
- How does your intention to develop your future financial portfolio compare to storing up treasures in heaven?
- What would you say is the “treasure you are storing up in heaven” and why?
- One of the best ways we can store up treasure is to be disciples who make disciples. How are you doing that in your own life? If you are not, why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, grant me wisdom, vision, and courage to make sound investments with my time, energy, talents, resources, and faith so that Your Kingdom might be strengthened, and Your name glorified. May my investments in these things make an eternal difference to those around me. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly