Matt. 6:19-24 - Do Not Store Up Treasures On Earth

The teachings of Jesus are the most neglected scriptures in the bible. Of all the central passages of scripture, the clearest and most neglected and misunderstood of all is Matthew 6. Here is close to 50% of the central teachings of the Messiah, here is the path to blessedness and yet the church by and large has entirely neglected or worse refused to preach the simple truth of the way of the Savior.

Jesus, our Christ and Lord, teaches us saying, "Do not store up treasures on earth where moth or rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal". The treasures Jesus is telling us not to store up, or amass, are treasures that:

1. Moths can eat.

2. Rust can destroy

3. Thieves can steal. 

This teaching is simple in its clarity. Jesus indeed was brilliant in His ability to illuminate and illustrate His principles. Moths eat clothes, so do not store up clothes in your closets. Rust destroys metals so do not have valuable items in your garage or other so called semi-durable goods. And do not acquire the type of treasures that thieves can break into our houses or our banks and steal. Christians are to amass none of these type of things. We cannot have assets in banks and homes and cars and clothes. We are to not store up or amass monetary assets at all. Why? Because we are followers of the Messiah. If moths can eat it. Don't have a storage place with a lot of it. If rust will destroy it. Don't have an expensive one. If a thief could steal it, do not have much of it. 

Is this what Jesus means by these teachings. If we are not clear, Jesus clarifies and explains. 

Jesus continues to illustrate His way of blessedness saying, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. And if the light in you is darkness. How great is that darkness?"

Jesus is clear. Our vision for our life is what directs our life. If our vision is single and focused and correct, then our entire life will bring glory to God and the spirit in us will be Godly. But if our goals are mixed and double-minded or double-sighted, then our whole life will be one big deception and our spirit is actually evil. If our spirit is evil, trust Jesus, it is worse than you could imagine. 

Do not be deceived. Jesus continues just in case we do not yet understand. Do we think we can have two goals in life. Can we emus wealth and serve Jesus. Can we have expensive homes and closets full of nice clothes and fancy luxurious cars? 

"You cannot 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 God and money or the god of wealth".

Serving money and seeking wealth is like serving an idol. Is there a buddah in your home? Is there a buddah in your church? At the alter? Of course there isn't. Well, then in the same way, there must not be wealth and greed in the church. You cannot have it both ways. You either hate wealth and love God or you hate God and love money. There is no safe middle ground. You cannot love God and kinda like money. If you kinda like money, you hate God. If you really love God, you must hate wealth and greed like you would hate an idol in your church. 

Therefore, do not store up treasures on earth where moth or rust destroy. Do we believe Jesus? Are we followers of the King? Do we teach and observe these commands? If we do not we are like fools who built our houses on the sand. But if we observe these teachings of the Christ, the Son of God, and teach others to do likewise, like Jesus, then we are wise indeed.