What Do You Really Own?

Today’s scripture is from Matthew 6:19-21 in which Jesus says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

This lesson was inspired by a tough question I heard recently which was “what do you really own?”. The idea was that if it can be taken away from you, then you don’t really own it. And the follow up question asked why we spend so much time and energy working so hard for things that we’ll lose one day (at death, if not before).

The point of today’s lesson is not to recommend selling everything and giving it to the poor. Certainly, God expects us to be generous and give at least 10% back to the church and other Christian ministries, but the point is not to take a vow of poverty. In fact, please pursue unimaginable riches if you feel that’s where God is leading you. But, no matter what you pursue on earth, remember to store up treasure in heaven.

So what does that really mean? Jesus didn’t immediately follow this command with a detailed list, but here are a few items to consider that are consistent with His other teachings and with other Biblical principles:

• Building your relationship with God – praying, reading scripture
• Spending quality and quantity time with family and friends
• Patience
• Kindness
• Volunteering with the right motivation
• Encouraging someone who is down
• Inspiring others and living a life worth imitating
• Teaching or leading ministry efforts
• Singing or playing musical instruments in church
• Serving where your spiritual gifts are most needed

The goodness and blessings that come from each of these things can never be taken away from you……and you truly “own” them.

For me, the most powerful part of today’s scripture was the idea that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What a great reminder to laser focus our hearts and minds on God no matter where we are or what we’re doing. When we do that and truly bring Him into our decision making, we are much more likely to hit the target of accumulating riches in heaven.

Questions:

1. Do you agree that we don’t truly own something if it can be taken away from us?
2. What did you think about the follow-up question regarding why we work so hard and stress ourselves out so much for things that will be taken away?
3. On the surface, today’s topic is not complicated or confusing so why is it so difficult for us to consistently focus on storing treasure in heaven vs. on earth?
4. What is one thing you can do in the next week to store up some treasure in heaven?