Earthly Treasures, Part 1

During His time on Earth, Jesus spoke about money more than Heaven, Hell, or any other topic. Isn’t that interesting? Jesus seems to tell us that the most compelling struggle that each of us will face is that of finances and money.

“‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.’” –Matthew 6:24

Our Lord also tells us that no matter how much Bible knowledge or how many theological degrees we may possess, the battle lines in our hearts will often go back to the simple, little idol called money. 

“‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’” –Matthew 6:21

You could spend 30 hours in deep, spiritual conversation with someone and not know where their heart really lies, but you can look through their checkbook for five minutes and know exactly what has a hold on their heart.

The Lord can evaluate what kind of true riches He can entrust to us simply by seeing what you and I do with the money He has given to us. 

“‘So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?’” –Luke 16:11

I take “true riches” to mean seeing life from God’s point of view and responding in obedience to His ways.

I believe that this is a huge issue in the church today. Less than 3% of evangelical Christians give at least 10% of their money. In fact, the average giving of Christians is less than 2% of their income, and only 17% of Christians say they tithe.

This should not be, my brothers and sisters.

Jesus was clearly free from the love of money, and I find that our Lord never asks us to do anything that He has not first modeled for us or done to the glory of the Father. This is why our Lord is such a great Savior.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” –2 Corinthians 8:9

The people Paul was writing to in Corinth were very poor, but Christ had their hearts. Because they were captivated by Christ, Paul tells us that they gave not only what they could but more. 

So today, we—who live in the richest county in the world—find ourselves in a dilemma about money, and I hope you’ll journey with me for the next few weeks as we seek to learn the heart of the Redeemer for our finances so we can find our treasure in Heaven and not on this Earth. 

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