Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. — Matthew 6:19-21
We often hear guidance from those around us about saving money for the future. Not too long ago I was reading the story about how several people lost millions of dollars in the stock market. Some of them were saying it was their life savings. Others were talking about how it was extra money from their business and that it would take them years to recover. They had placed their savings and their faith in the stock market, trusting that it would bring them a financial return in the future. The treasure that they believed they were storing was in fact stolen from them.
Do not take what I am saying completely wrong. Planning for the future is not a horrible thing, unless it is the only future planning that you do. So many people are captivated by their planning, saving, collecting, and other things here in this world, they seem to forget that things here are temporary.
We read in these verses in Matthew about that very thing. Treasures of this world have no value in eternity. They are corruptible and will decay. They can be stolen and taken from you in the blink of an eye. We especially should be careful working to put up treasure in this world knowing that our future is not in this world.
For the Christian, our life here is just a speck of time. We are simply passing through this world and on our way to a better place. A place where there is not corruption, no theft, and no sorrow. A place where there are no tears, no death, and no separation ever again.
Rather than working ourselves to death to place treasure in this world, we should be focusing on putting our treasure up in heaven. After all, is that not where our heart and desires should be?