Day 369 · Year 2 · Life with God
Where your treasure is
Jesus is not anti-money. He is anti-divided-heart.
Today's passage
Matthew 6:19-21
19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Berean Standard Bible · public domain
Reflection
Jesus does not say money is evil. He says where you store it is where your heart goes. The honest test is not your stated values; it is your calendar and your credit card statement. If those are full of one kind of treasure and your heart feels strangely far from God, the two are connected. The good news: this is fixable. You can redirect treasure. Generosity is not how you earn God's favor; it is how you reposition your own heart.
From the great tradition · paraphrased
Basil the Great · Cappadocians & Alexandrians · 4th c. · Cappadocia
Basil the Great preached pointedly that the bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry, that the coat in your closet belongs to the cold — calling Christians to use wealth as a tool for love.
Paraphrase only. Scripture, not any teacher, is the authority.
Think it through
- What two kinds of treasure does Jesus contrast?
- What is the principle in verse 21?
- What does your calendar and spending suggest about where your treasure is?
A prayer to pray
Ask God to show you one place to move treasure toward him this week — by generosity, by simplifying, by giving him your finances honestly.