Where Your Treasure Is
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:32-34)
This week is a continuation of the previous things Jesus has said. Obviously when, Jesus spoke these words He didn’t break them up into chapters and verses, so we keep in mind the context in which He was speaking from the verses we looked at in the previous devotional weeks leading up to this one.
Jesus had told a parable of a rich fool who wasn’t considering anything spiritual and was only living for the physical. That then led to Jesus talking about not being anxious because our Father knows what we need so instead we should seek His kingdom. And this week, we get more information that not only will God give us the kingdom, but it’s the Father’s good pleasure to do so.
As our good Shepherd, Jesus, reminds us of this type of relationship with Him in His precious address of calling us His “little flock”, all while repeating that phrase that we talked about last month again – Fear Not. He had just told us to seek God’s kingdom instead of being anxious, and now He tells us an awesome reassurance of that. We can obey in seeking His kingdom and not fear that it won’t be given because Jesus is telling us it’s our Father’s good pleasure to give it to us. This provides us freedom! We don’t have to be anxious or fearful, we can trust our Good Father.
That freedom paves the way to focus on storing the right kind of treasure in the right place. Part of that right kind of treasure is giving to the needy.
Treasure in the Heavens
In the early church we end up seeing that they sold their possessions and gave freely as anyone had need. And in James we read that taking care of those who cannot care for themselves, such as orphans and widows, is a pure and undefiled religion. These are the types of things that God values and treasures. Gold, silver, and jewels are all made by God and they don’t have the same value to Him that people have placed on it. Yet in our free will, it’s the things, including our hearts, that we freely offer to God that is of great value to Him and that He has defined as heavenly treasure.
Jesus makes it clear that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now here we see treasure and hearts, but following this the right way doesn’t actually start with the heart. The heart is deceitful, and we most definitely don’t want to be guided by it. If we did that and went based on our feelings, our sinful nature would guide us to treasure the wrong things and we’d be stuck in a rut there.
To be effective in this, it actually has to start in your mind. If you are renewing your mind in the Word of God then your mind will be set on the things which are above. If your mind is set on the things which are above, then you’re going to have God’s perspective of treasure and not only treasuring the right things but storing that heavenly treasure. And where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
So once again, we see the application to this is to abide in Jesus and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The bible is God’s direct word to us and we have the privilege of having our own personal copy of it, often many copies in a household. Do we treasure that fact? That the God of the universe not only came down to earth to bring us redemption for our souls, but that He has preserved His word over thousands and thousands of years, and that He has gifted people to translate it into our native language, giving us the ability to read it whenever we want and with the promise that the Holy Spirit will guide and teach us as we read. That is amazing! God is amazing and His grace is amazing! This week, let’s be mindful of what we are treasuring and where it’s being stored as we continue to abide in Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to mold us to be more like Him.