Treasure in Heaven

Years ago, while a young preacher in the panhandle of Florida near Destin we enjoyed lots of Christian visitors coming down from Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia to vacation the snow-white beaches. They were so white that in January we would go down to the dunes near the beach and film kids riding their plastic toboggans, sleds, saucers, etc. down the snow-like dunes. One Sunday a family visited from Georgia. They were a couple in their early forties. We hit it off and decided to good out for supper after evening services.

At one point the father leans over and asks, “Do want to see a picture of my treasure in Heaven?” Not knowing what to expect my wife and I said, “Sure.” He pulled out what looked like a senior class picture of a very beautiful young lady. He went on to explain, “This is our daughter. Just a year ago at age seventeen she was killed one night by a drunk driver. She hit her head and was killed instantly. She had recently obeyed the Gospel and was such a good Christian girl. We miss her, but now she’s our treasure in heaven.” He said this without even a hint of suddenness but had a joyful expression on his face. His wife was smiling while shaking her head in agreement.

If his treasure was truly in heaven, how could I see a picture of it. My thoughts were that heavenly treasures were of a spiritual nature and could not be photographed. Yet, he was so enthusiastic and happy and confident. His hope was in Jesus’ promise in the Sermon on the Mount. “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” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Jesus’ prohibition to lay up material goods on earth is not a restriction upon His disciples from having any form of personal property. Both Old and New Testaments abound with laws protecting the rights of men and women to have material possessions. In fact, the commandments not to steal or covet clearly promote the distinction between public and private ownership. Only one person was told to sell all his goods and give it to the poor and that was the Rich Young Ruler (Matt. 19:21). Instead, Jesus is giving His disciples the choice of priorities involving investments for their future. If they want to invest in a sure thing, they need to focus on spiritual treasures laid up in heaven not physical treasures stored up on earth.

In the Greek text, Jesus is making a play on words. He is prohibiting them from treasuring up treasures. The phrase to “lay up” is from the Greek word thesaurizete and the Greek term thesaurous is translated here, “treasures.” They both come from the same Greek term from which the English word “thesaurus” is derived. A thesaurus is a treasury of words.

The idea of treasures can include money, gold, diamonds, jewelry, vehicles, wardrobe, homes, real estate, power of position, popularity, etc. All these things are found in this life and are earth-bound. It is only natural to store up the physical as opposed to that which is spiritual in nature. The material things on earth can be touched, seen, handled, acquired, etc. They are necessary for the life lived here and now.

Jesus gives three reasons why investing in the temporary treasures of life is the wrong choice. First, since much of their clothing was made of wool, moths would eat it away. Garments were one of the riches of the ancient world. The wealthy would even weave threads of gold in their clothing to keep it on them at all times. Another reason is the corruptibility of their possessions. Rust could eat away at their metal money. The term used here could refer to the rats or mice which ate away their stored grain. Finally, Jesus reminds them of thieves who break in and steal their goods. The term for “break” is to dig through the mud-brick walls of a house to gain entry to the homeowner’s valuables. “The Greeks called a burglar a ‘mud-digger”’ (Robertson 56). Earthly investments are not durable. James warned, “your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days” (James 5:2-3).

Next, Jesus gives the same three reasons from a positive standpoint as to why His disciples should invest in heaven. Heaven has no devouring insects or rodents, no rust, and all thieves are kept off the streets of gold. In Heaven there is no need for insecticides, mouse traps, rust proof paint, insurance, thick-walled safes or security systems. All treasures in Heaven are incorruptible, eternally secure, and indestructible. Another reason treasuring up treasures in heaven is a wiser investment: “for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim. 6:7). You cannot take any of it with you. The old adage is true, there are no pockets in a shroud. Or we could ask, “have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul.” In fact, the person who lays up treasures are earth and is not rich toward God is a fool (Luke 12:20,21). Even if a man would own the whole world and everything in it what would it profit him? Nothing (Matt. 16:26). After all, one day the Lord is going to return and everything material will be burned up. “For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).

Just what are these heavenly treasures? Our relationships with God as our Father and Jesus as our Savior and Mediator are the most important ones. Next, there is a plethora of spiritual blessings, such as, our hope, our inheritance, our future abode for the soul, our citizenship (Phil. 3:20,21), and even those loved one who have gone on before us. As Peter wrote, “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4). Ironically, how a disciple spends his money on earth can result in treasures in Heaven. Paul advised wealthy Christians, “not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:17-19). Millionaire saints on earth can still have great treasures in Heaven.

It is the love of money (1 Tim. 6:5-8) which could keep many of Jesus’ disciples from entering Heaven. Jesus warned of the high cost of discipleship: “whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33).

The “heart” is the mind. Our mind dwells on what is most important. If our investments are in earthly wealth our minds are carnal and earth bound. If our minds are focused on spiritual blessings our hearts are focused on Heaven. Paul told the Christians of the first century to “set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth” (Col. 3:2). One’s attitudes and priorities concerning material possessions and spiritual blessings are strong indicators where their heart already has taken up residence.

What would a portfolio of our Heavenly treasures look like? Here is what mine looks like so far…

▸ my inheritance of eternal life
▸ a place prepared from me in God’s house
▸ all the souls I have spent time with and encouraged to obey the Gospel
▸ all the sleeping saints who have gone on to their reward because we work and worship encouraging each other
▸ an eternal relationship with God

Sometimes one needs to give up his treasures on earth to have treasures in heaven. Jesus told the rich young ruler what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. “Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me’” (Mark 10:21).

Make a list of our treasures in Heaven.

– Daniel R. Vess