Jesus' teaching about money, possessions and heaven
In Matthew 6:19-34 there is a section titled, “Teaching about money and possessions”. This is part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. In it Jesus shares four key things about our money and our possessions.
Let's have a look at the text...
Matthew 6:19-34
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust 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 good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eyes are bad, 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 he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
25 "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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Reflections from this passage
In this passage we see four things that Jesus teaches us about life
and money.
1. Store your treasures in heaven
Verses 19-21 talk about earthly treasures versus heavenly treasures.
We see that earthly treasure can be damaged or stolen, but heavenly
treasures are safely locked away with God. We need to build “eternal
superannuation” by supporting God’s work with our finances.
2. Let God be your only Master
Verse 24 says “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one
and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other”.
As Christians we need to let God be our sole master, we can’t focus on
building wealth and possessions to the detriment of our relationship
with God. God must always come first in our hearts and in the way we
live.
3. Don’t worry about daily needs
Verses 25-32 looks at our daily needs of life like food and clothing.
These things can cause us great worry if we allow them to. However the
text tells us that God supplies our needs like He supplies the needs of
the animals and birds. It says that we are of far more value to Him that
they are (v26). We can trust Him to supply our daily needs because He
loves and cares for us deeply.
4. Seek first the Kingdom
In verse 33 it says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need”. As Christians our primary focus needs to be on God’s Kingdom and what He wants us to do with our daily lives. God promises that if we seek His Kingdom first and live right, that He will give us everything we need to live both now and into the future.
Summary
We can see from this passage that we don’t need to worry about money and
possessions. God wants us to focus first and foremost on His Kingdom.
When we do that He promises to take care of our daily needs as we trust
and follow Him. God loves you and I very deeply and He knows what we
need daily to live. He will supply all.
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