Jesus tells us in Matthew 6.20 to “lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven” and not (v. 19) “treasures on earth”. Just what are these treasures in heaven He is talking about?
After thinking about and pondering over this (a lot!), it seems to me that what Jesus is instructing us to primarily focus our time and effort on in this life is relationships. #1 on our relationship/connection to Him (and the Father and the Son) and #2 relationships with other people, especially those with other followers of Christ.
When you think about it, when we die, those that have put their trust in Jesus will have only their redeemed soul enter into the presence of Yahweh – the current heaven. That is a bit hard for us to comprehend – a non-physical self in a non-physical sinless existence for a period of time. We will be with the LORD, but away from our mortal physical bodies (see 2 Corinthians 5.8). By extension, we will also be with all believers that have died before us, including those loved ones that have died in the LORD (believers).
What we will have is the relationships – soul connections with other humans, God (and maybe angels?) which are the most important things then – and the most important things now → real treasures. We will get the joy and privilege of developing those relationships – experiences that will never be boring and never be exhausted.
So I think the treasures in heaven are those things that last into eternity in the current heaven now and in the final heaven/earth after Jesus’ second coming (see Revelation 21) which are those relationships → That is what we should “lay up for ourselves” – meaning: spending time, effort and money in this life primarily on those things because they, and only they, will last forever.
Let me know what you think about my take on this. Does this make sense to you? How can we practically and day-by-day lay up for ourselves these treasures?
- Pastor Brian
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