Matthew’s Gospel: Treasures

Treasures like these are carefully kept, hidden away, locked up, meticulously filed so we can retrieve them at a moment’s notice, hold them close, and consider their value.

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Creation is full of objects. The mind is full of thoughts. The heart is full of emotions. Some of these things stand out from the rest.

These things are our treasures:

  • objects that may have great market value or simply personal value only to us,
  • truths that we hold dear and that hold our lives together, and
  • feelings that bring us home, give us hope, and clear our heads.

Treasures like these are carefully kept, hidden away, locked up, meticulously filed so we can retrieve them at a moment’s notice, hold them close, and consider their value. Of course, our greatest treasures are the people we love. They occupy the heart and the mind and little things that were theirs occupy the corners of our homes.

Treasures in Heaven
Jesus spoke of securing our treasures, of finding storage for them that is beyond the reach of natural disasters, wicked people, or even the ravages of time. There is only one such storage place—heaven. How can we store our treasures in so remote and removed a place?

It is a matter of offering. Do we hold to our treasures with so tight a grip that we cannot let go? For safekeeping, we must give them to the Lord. The house you live in, the car you drive, the money safely invested toward an uncertain future are gifts from God. Since He is their source, He has a program in place to protect them! We must return our treasures to Him in faith:

  • objects that may have great market value or simply personal value only to us,
  • truths that we hold dear and that hold our lives together,
  • feelings that bring us home, give us hope, and clear our heads, and
  • people we treasure above all other things.

These treasures are the contents of our hearts, hearts whose source is heaven and which are safe only there.

The Treasure of Sight
Of all our five senses, perhaps the most precious is our ability to see. In this passage, Jesus is speaking about more than our ability to detect light reflecting off objects. He is talking about a deeper level of sight—insight, we call it—the ability to see the true value of things. The Holy Spirit can help us truly see the differences between the treasures and the trash around us. With this spiritual insight, we can cling to the good, return it to God for safekeeping, and keep it forever.

Beware of Evil Treasure.
The old saying that “all that glitters isn’t gold” has never been more true than today. The world glitters all around us with shining sins sparkling in the sun of our own selfishness. Evil treasures do not add themselves to our collections; they make themselves masters of our lives. We cannot collect them; they capture us! The greatest of these is money. We must have it, use it, invest it, save it, but we must never serve it. The love of money is a root that only produces evil. We cannot treasure wealth and serve God, too.

Creation is full of objects. The mind is full of thoughts. The heart is full of emotions. Some of these things stand out from the rest.

 

Scriptures: 

Matthew 6:19-24 NKJV
“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. ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.'”

James 1:16-18 NKJV
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

1 Timothy 6:6-10 NKJV
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

 

Prayer: 

Lord Jesus, thank you for the tremendous blessings I enjoy, gifts good and perfect, from Your hand. These are my treasures so I return them to You for safekeeping, beyond the consumption of moths, the reach of rust. and the danger of thieves. As You continue to supply my needs, protect me from the love of money and the things it can buy. You only will I serve. Give me insight to see the difference between the treasure and the trash. For Your glory, Lord, Amen.

 

Song:
I’d Rather Have Jesus
Words: Rhea F. Miller; Music: George Beverly Shea

  1. I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
    I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
    I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands.
    I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

Refrain:

Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

  1. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
    I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
    I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame.
    I’d rather be true to His holy name

Refrain:

Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

  1. He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
    He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
    He’s all that my hungering spirit needs.
    I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead

Refrain:

Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

 

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

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About the Author

Full of passion for Jesus Christ, Stephen Phifer is a third-generation minister with more than three decades of experience as a pastoral artist, worship leader, and conductor.