How not to lose it

Matthew 6.19-21
 
Jesus continues his sermon by turning to the subject of “treasure” and that can be taken literally as referring to material possessions or metaphorically as anything of value. He cautions his listeners against storing away anything that would fall in that category. And why would he say that? The reason is that all material possessions – be it an extra coat or money in the bank – are open to decay or theft. There is no security guarantee for things of this world. They belong to this world and therefore, as eternity approaches, are of no lasting value.
         Of course there is nothing wrong with the desire to keep something safe; it all depends on what you want protected. If you are going down on the Titanic, worrying about your collection of bottle caps back in your stateroom is a bit erratic. Since the ship never made it back to its homeport we can see the foolishness of concern for the temporal. We can look at the Titanic as symbolic of the human story. Putting your “bottle caps” (finances? unnecessary luxuries of any sort?) in the ship’s massive safe is a bit beside the point. Everything goes down together. The obvious point is that treasures should be put in genuinely safe places – like heaven for instance.
         Okay, a person approaches the close of life having been able to put “x” number of dollars in the bank. It will be safe there. Probably so, but the day you enter heaven can you get your hands on it? Whoops, you’ve lost it. Is there any way that you could have brought it with you? Only one that I know is to have changed the dollars into the currency of heaven. Let’s say that you exchanged your “x” number of dollars for 50 children fed, 40 lives restored, 30 families put on the road to recovery, 20 tribal groups hear the gospel, or 10 people redirected from the road that leads to hell to the pearly gate and endless fellowship with God. Would you do that or does it feel better to keep your useless dollars in a savings account so your books will look good.
         Not only does choosing to put your treasure in the wrong bank end up with loosing it but it reveals where your heart is. The two are inseparable. If you like a big “bank account” (for whatever reason) that’s where your heart is and will always be. If your heart is already in the eternal and spiritual world that’s where you’ll keep your treasure.