LEARNING DAILY

Matthew 6:21-24a, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, 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 in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters…”

What a great message is the Sermon on the Mount. Pastor Ed Newton shared thoughts about what people chase with their lives, what they collect during their lifetime is what they treasure. Are you collecting and stockpiling “stuff” here on earth, or are you stockpiling rewards in heaven by allowing God to use the “stuff” you have for His honor? Is that not the issue Jesus is addressing by what He said in the verses above? Jesus was not addressing the issues of Believers having wealth, or that they should not want things; He was addressing the issue of the Believer’s priority should be on God.

Pastor Newton emphasized the importance of prioritizing eternal values over temporary material possessions. He said, “The safest place to put our treasure is in God’s hands, where it cannot be deteriorated by rust nor be destroyed by the moth.” He made an interesting comment about God not giving blessings to us. “God may not be giving you a blessing because you could not handle it. Instead of honoring Him, you may make an idol of it.” From experience, God may take away what He has blessed you with because you did make an idol of it!

What we focus on dictates our actions. You have heard or read that before. When earthly success and wealth is focused on, people spend their time and energy on earthly matters. When people focus on God’s priorities, their actions reflect different priorities, on rewards that are eternal. Jesus said that the things treasured reveal where the heart is. There are many who claim they look forward to heaven, but their heart is caught up in the cares and things of the world – that is where their hearts are.

The words of Jesus are still very relevant to a world so caught up in consumerism and material success. Jesus’s words challenge each Believer to take a moment to consider their priorities. Where are you spending your priorities? Are you caught up in accumulating wealth and possessions? Or are you investing in relationships, kindness, and spiritual growth? Pastor asked if we were living in generosity, with our heart set on God satisfying our needs and to be a steward of what God has given to us? Again, our heart follows where we invest our time, our resources, and our energy.

Jesus reminded those listening to this message, and us who are reading these verses that we cannot serve two masters. “You cannot have two thrones in your life; whoever sits on the throne in your life will determine what you do with your ‘stuff’” (EN). Jesus was very clear that one could not place ultimate priority on both God and money! Read and understand the rest of verse 24, “for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The takeaway to this message (found on the Listener Guide was, “Money is a tool. Greed is a trap. Generosity is testimony, for it proves who you trust and what kingdom you belong to.”

Again, this message was not about having wealth or things; it is about what you are chasing and what you are doing with what you have. There are many moments in life where you must choose which is more important. Christ's calling forces those who would follow Him into such choices.