Treasures in Heaven

“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 neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21 NASB1995)

This reminds me of that old song by Jim Reeves called, “This World is Not My Home.” 

This world is not my home

I'm just a-passing through

My treasures are laid up

Somewhere beyond the blue

The angels beckon me

From heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home

In this world anymore…

https://youtu.be/YzOW3FQQZkQ?si=ZHJSROB2gdmvE5p3

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What is a treasure? It can be money, or worldly possessions, or anything earthly and of this world. But it can be anything that we might cherish, adore, and give value to, which we hold dear to our hearts, which doesn’t necessarily have to be anything of a physical nature at all. So, a treasure could be a sinful habit or a stubborn will or any selfish desire that might rule one’s heart, which one might refuse to let go of. Or it can be any kind of obsession that one holds on to which is greater to them than God.

For it is not wrong to have possessions such as furniture to sit on, or a table to eat at, or a bed to sleep on, or dishes to eat off of, or clothing or shoes to wear, or a roof over our heads, etc. But if we have more than we need, or more than we are using, and it is just being stored up while others go hungry or are in need of what we have, but don’t need, then it is time to go through our drawers and our closets and cupboards and to donate what we don’t need, and we are not using, to help people who are in need.

But that isn’t the extent of what this is all about. It has to do with what we treasure in our hearts, what we desire, what we worship, and what we feel we cannot live without, and especially what we put above and/or in place of God in our hearts and minds, and then how that impacts our thinking and our behaviors and our attitudes and actions, and our relationship with God and with other humans, too. What or who gets first place in our hearts and minds and in our time and focus? God? Or the flesh? Or the world?

And where does God fit into all of this? Does he indeed have first place in our hearts, as he should? Or are all these other things crowding him out to where he is barely noticed by us in our day to day routines? Do we consider the will of God for our lives and what he has planned for us to do when we make our daily plans? Or do we only consider him when we have a question or a prayer need or something we want? Who or what gets first place in our hearts, in truth? God? Or the things of this world and fleshly desires?

For it is true that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. So, if the things of this world and the pleasures of this world are what we treasure, i.e. what we regard as important to us above all else, it will be obvious by our attitudes, our behaviors, our thinking, our speaking, and by how we spend our time, and by what we give our devotion to. And the same applies if God and his word and his will for our lives is what we treasure above all else. It will reveal itself in many of the same ways.

So, what this is teaching us here is that we are not to treasure the things of this world, which again is not just material possessions, and to where they become our gods and what we desire most in this life, and which consume us and our minds and our time and our passions. But we are to treasure God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and his will and purpose for our lives. And he should be given top priority and first place in our hearts and minds to where doing his will supersedes all other things that we value.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24] 

By Your Grace  

An Original Work / June 27, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Speak Your words to my heart,

Let Your grace and love impart.

Be to me all I need

To love and serve Christ my King;

To love and serve Christ my King.

Change my heart; be like You;

Let me love and serve in truth.

Guide my steps ev’ry day, 

As I bow my knees and pray;

As I bow my knees and pray.

Love You, Lord. You love me. 

You died so that I’d go free

From my sin; pure within;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin.

Invite You in my heart;

Now I have a brand new start.

Repented of my sin,

So that I’d be cleansed within;

So that I’d be cleansed within.

Live for You ev’ry day,

List’ning to the words you say.

Make You Lord of my heart;

Be Your witness, grace impart;

Be Your witness, grace impart.

Obey Your ev’ry word;

Do the things I’ve seen and heard.

Your word, Lord, in me burns,

While I wait for Your return;

While I wait for Your return.

https://vimeo.com/125738774

Treasures in Heaven

An Original Work / January 9, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love