Your Treasure
“Then he (Jesus) said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15-21.
I know many men who work long and hard for the so called “American dream” and there is nothing wrong with having riches in their place. However when those riches begin to take first place in your life there can be problems. the apostle Paul points out,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
If we concentrate so much on becoming wealthy in this world and neglect our spiritual life with God we will enter heaven, if we enter heaven at all, spiritually broke.
The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
“To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 2:26.
Wealth in this world is meaningless. It is only what we do for Christ that will last.
Look around at some of the wealthiest men that have ever lived. Their riches are still in this world in the hands of others. Their names even lost to eternity. After all how many people remember the who the richest men of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were. They are gone known only to God, judged by Him.
Yet millions remember the apostles Peter, Paul, and John, the prophets Isaiah, and Jeremiah as well as Moses. People even remember a poor old woman who gave two small coins to the service of God, centuries, millenniums, after their death. All of these people were faithful servants of God.
Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”Matthew 6:19-24.
As I said there is nothing wrong with material wealth in its place. There are many faithful servants of God who are wealthy and do His work.
However material wealth should never have first place in your life. In a choice between material wealth and serving God. God must always come first.
Jesus said,
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Matthew 8:36.
To the Christian I would ask where is your treasure?
I also know there are some who are reading this that say there is no God. Therefore I can do what I like in this world. After all I can’t take it with me. That’s their choice. However I would ask them to consider this statement by Peter John Kreeft who said,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value” Peter John Kreeft ph.d.
For me personally knowing God, knowing that there is a place in heaven waiting for me gives me hope. Serving God enriches my life and gives me peace no matter what I am going through.
I have found the words of Jesus to be true when he said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
Someone said,
“No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.” Author Unknown.
This I have found is a true statement.
Please take some time to at least read the New Testament for yourself and see what God offers you.
Please think about it.
“Then he (Jesus) said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15-21.
I know many men who work long and hard for the so called “American dream” and there is nothing wrong with having riches in their place. However when those riches begin to take first place in your life there can be problems. the apostle Paul points out,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
If we concentrate so much on becoming wealthy in this world and neglect our spiritual life with God we will enter heaven, if we enter heaven at all, spiritually broke.
The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
“To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 2:26.
Wealth in this world is meaningless. It is only what we do for Christ that will last.
Look around at some of the wealthiest men that have ever lived. Their riches are still in this world in the hands of others. Their names even lost to eternity. After all how many people remember the who the richest men of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were. They are gone known only to God, judged by Him.
Yet millions remember the apostles Peter, Paul, and John, the prophets Isaiah, and Jeremiah as well as Moses. People even remember a poor old woman who gave two small coins to the service of God, centuries, millenniums, after their death. All of these people were faithful servants of God.
Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”Matthew 6:19-24.
As I said there is nothing wrong with material wealth in its place. There are many faithful servants of God who are wealthy and do His work.
However material wealth should never have first place in your life. In a choice between material wealth and serving God. God must always come first.
Jesus said,
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Matthew 8:36.
To the Christian I would ask where is your treasure?
I also know there are some who are reading this that say there is no God. Therefore I can do what I like in this world. After all I can’t take it with me. That’s their choice. However I would ask them to consider this statement by Peter John Kreeft who said,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value” Peter John Kreeft ph.d.
For me personally knowing God, knowing that there is a place in heaven waiting for me gives me hope. Serving God enriches my life and gives me peace no matter what I am going through.
I have found the words of Jesus to be true when he said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
Someone said,
“No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.” Author Unknown.
This I have found is a true statement.
Please take some time to at least read the New Testament for yourself and see what God offers you.
Please think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment