Matthew 6:19 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (NIV)
Not a day goes by that the economy, the stock market, the strength of the US dollar against the euro, is not in the news. Every day we look curiously and cautiously at the gas prices. For years now, people have lived in fear of ‘loosing it all’. Indeed, many people have ‘lost it all.’ Or have they? What, exactly, have they lost?
In today’s passage, Jesus makes it clear that money, and the things that money can buy, must not dominate our lives. If they do dominate out lives, then we will live life never satisfied, never full, and always hungry for more. Jesus never condemns money. He never condemns having money or using money. He does, however, condemn treasuring money, and he condemns loving the things that money can buy more than we love God. Consider verse twenty-one: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Each of us will give our greatest effort and energy to what we really love. If the things that money can buy are what we treasure, then that’s where our energies and priorities will be. Likewise, if the things of God are what we treasure, then that’s where our energies and priorities will be.
The desire for material possessions robs us of the joy and peace that comes from trusting God for everything. The desire for material possession, if left unchecked, will move us from serving God to serving money. Life is more than what we can purchase. Jesus tells us: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25) Life – abundant life – is more than food and clothing! It’s more than houses, cars, retirement plans and vacations. None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but they are bad when they come before God. Jesus tells us to watch our priorities by telling us: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33).
Today, let us seek God’s kingdom and righteousness!
Posted by Ramón Torres
Thank you…🙏