WORRY
TREASURE IN HEAVEN
Jesus identified the second enemy as worry.
We tend to think of worry as the opposite of
covetousness. Jesus asserts that they both have
the same disastrous effect: they keep us from
investing in His Father’s kingdom. I have often
thought that Luke 12:31 (also Matthew 6:33) is
the best deal on the planet: Make God’s kingdom
your worry, and He will make your needs His. Can
you think of a better deal anywhere? Now, that’s
financial peace! Like the covetous fool above,
those who worry have a distorted view of life:
they have failed to realize that life is more than
the pursuit of what one needs (v. 23).
So, how does Jesus suggest that we avoid
these two enemies and lay up treasure in our
Father’s kingdom? He tells us in verse 33: sell
your possessions (what the rich man thought
life consisted of) and give them away charitably.
We shy away immediately from a command like
that: Jesus does not say sell all! And isn’t it wise
to save up for the future? And we would be
right. But at the same time, we need to make
sure that our rationalizations are not cover-ups
for covetousness and worry. Do we not have
possessions that we could sell or give away? Are
there not people with physical needs around us?
These needs range from a homeless person who
haunts your intersection to a missionary who is
trying to get to the field where God has called
him or her.
Take your riches and put them where no thief
can reach them and where no moth can destroy
them. Put them somewhere where you will find
them again. As Jesus said, you will then find your
heart increasingly drawn toward your Father’s
kingdom.
Roll those words around in your mind like you
would a peppermint in your mouth: Your Father’s
kingdom. Jesus calls God “your Father” in verse
30 and refers to “His kingdom” in verse 31. This
kingdom is your Father’s. Jesus is offering you
and me the opportunity to lay up treasure in it!
In a place where nothing can take it away: no
Second Law of Thermodynamics, no entropy, no
thieves, and no moths!
Your Father’s kingdom is a worthy recipient of
your heart’s affections. Incline your heart to it by
laying up treasure in it. Do what meditation on
this passage prompted me to do: think through
what I own to see what I could sell or give away!