“but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” — Matthew 6:20
From verse 19, we come to understand that the LORD Jesus made it clear that we were not created to be ruled by earthly things, but rather to have dominion over them. The things of this world were never meant to master us. As He says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24). We are created to be ruled by God, not to be ruled by the things of this world.
We also understand that building wealth is not an easy task. It requires our strength, our time, our talents, and even our resources. Because of this, whatever costs us the most often becomes what we value the most. Instead of us ruling over these things, these things begin to rule over us. We become servants to what we have built, instead of being ruled by God in righteousness. Look at a man who is ruled by money. We can see it in how he lives. Their mind is set on gaining more. They will do whatever it takes. Even if it means walking in something crooked and wicked. What they own begins to own them.
That is why the LORD Jesus commanded us His disciples, saying, “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” For the Greek word for “treasures” is “thēsauros,” which speaks of a place where good and precious things are gathered and stored. It is like a treasury, a storehouse, a repository where valuables are laid up and kept. The LORD Jesus desires us to store all the good and precious things we gathered in His Kingdom in a place where we are meant to live forever.
The LORD Jesus is not saying that we should have no possessions or money at all. We need a place to live, a roof over our heads, and money for the things we need. Jesus said, “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things” (Luke 12:29–30). No one in this entire universe wants what is good for us more than our Father in heaven. It was He who made Abraham very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold (Genesis 13:2). Isaac sowed and reaped a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him (Genesis 26:12–13). Job also had his latter days blessed more than his beginning (Job 42:12). Our Father in heaven knows that we all need things here on earth. That is why He created the trees, so we can build our houses. He created gold and silver and many other things for our provision. The Father already knew our needs before we even thought of them.
And above all, Jesus died for us. If He did not come, everything we have accumulated would be destined for destruction. We were all on our way to perish in the lake of fire. As it is written, ““For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) Yet the LORD Jesus came and said, “… I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Because He desires that all of us would live, not just have life, but live with abundant life. He does not want all our hard labor to be destroyed, “where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” Even the treasures we work for, He wants to preserve. He wants them to be laid up where they cannot be destroyed not taken away from us.
Have you understood that everything we build here is going to be wasted? All the ornaments of your house are appointed to be burned. All your wealth, all your accomplishments, can pass away. As it is written, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10).
Have you ever wondered why the Apostle Paul said, ““Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8)? For how can we gain Christ if we are caught up in the things of this world? We can’t walk with Jesus if our hearts and minds are on worldly things. As it is written, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). If our mind and heart are set on the things of this world, then Jesus is no longer at the center of our lives. He is pushed aside while other things take His place. If you use your time, talents, strength, and resources for God, your treasures are stored in His eternal Kingdom. As it is written, “…And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). The LORD Jesus cannot fill us with Himself if we are still full of ourselves.
I hope you begin to notice this as you begin to do the will of God. When the things of this world no longer have a hold on you, you are no longer bound by them but free, walking with God, and ruling over the things that once tried to rule over you. Nothing in this world can threaten you anymore, because your treasures are not found here but in heaven. Even your life is in Him.
Doing the work for God is not always something great in the eyes of men. Many think it must be something big and grand. Yet Jesus said, “And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42). Even in the smallest act we do, we are already laying up treasures in heaven. For God sees what men often overlook. And what is done for Him, no matter how small, is never wasted but stored up in His Kingdom.
You are here on earth not to accumulate wealth, but to do the work God has given you. And after that assignment is finished, you return home to your Father in heaven, where your true home is and where your treasures are stored. As it is written, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (I John 2:15-17)
So you must know your priority. Put God first. As it is written, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
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