Store

 

In Matthew 6:19-21 the Lord Jesus instructs us, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

What comes to mind when I read or hear the word “store” is a shop for the sale of goods. But, then other definitions come to mind as: to store items away for safe keeping, to stock and store an ample quantity of supplies and provisions, to bank and store funds for reserves in the future for bills and purchases. It is good to be equipped and prepared for nature disasters (floods, earthquakes, tornados, etc.), power and water outages, and even pandemics. We secure and store ammunition for home-defense or hunting game or recreational target shooting. Accumulated education and experience is a store of knowledge.  when done right, it is a smart preparation for a state of readiness in time of need. But, storing can be taken too far and become an obsession, a unhealthy driving force of mind, or a misguided purpose for life that goes beyond necessity. With worldly-mindedness, we can lay up and hoard treasure in our temporal storehouse or warehouse mentally and physically on earth, which our heart is set upon and depends upon for futurity. Storing up treasures on earth this way leads to the feeling of never having enough, grasping at more and more, and having the fear of someone taking what you have. What is your mind upon, your mind’s arms around. And what are you storing up for yourself.

 

Bible commentator Matthew Henry states that in Matthew 6:19-21, worldly-mindedness is as common and as fatal a symptom of hypocrisy as any other, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a visible and passable profession of religion, than by this; and therefore Christ, having warned us against coveting the praise of men in the prior verses, proceeds next to warn us against coveting the wealth of the world; in this also we must take heed, lest we be as the hypocrites are, and do as they do: the fundamental error that they are guilty of is, that they choose the world for their reward; we must therefore take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness, in the choice we make of our treasure, our end, and our masters. 

 

Just after, in Matthew 6:24 Jesus explains, “No one can serve two masters; for 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 God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” 

 

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” Nothing is to come between your face and God’s face. Let not one thing block your vision of the Lord and let nothing distract you from paths of righteousness. A treasure is an abundance of something that is in itself, at least in our opinion, precious and valuable, and likely to keep us safe, secure and sound hereafter. Now Christ designs not to deprive us of our treasure, but to direct us in the choice of it. Henry warns that we must not count earthly things as glorious or the best things, the most valuable in themselves, nor the most serviceable to us. Have a loose hand on the things of this world; you cannot take them with you when you go. The one with the most at the end wins nothings and may lose their soul by coveting and chasing these idols; they are not our hope. Philosopher Luke Combs reminds us that earthly possessions “are the kinda things that only last so long. When the new wears off, and they get to getting old, sooner or later, time's gonna take its toll … but some things [eternal things] last forever after all.” 

 

John 1:12 “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

 

To lay up and store our true treasure in heaven; is to give all diligence to make sure our title to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to depend upon that as our prime happiness, and look upon all things here below with a holy contempt, as not worthy to be compared with it. The shiny temptations of this world can distract us from the source of true joy. We must firmly believe there is such a happiness in “walking with the Lord”, and resolve to be content with that, and to be content with nothing short of it. 

 

We may trust God and have faith in our loving Father and Provider to keep us safe and secure here until we go home; knowing this, let us then refer all our designs, and extend all our desires; on that truth, “let us send before our best efforts and best affections; and not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

In Christ, Brian