With the advent of the Internet, online shopping, and endless apps for immediately accessing books, movies, how-to videos, and beyond, the virtue of waiting has slowly ebbed away in our culture of instant gratification. Gone are the days of catalog shopping and waiting a week or more to receive an order. Instantly receiving something desirable rather than waiting for something even better has become our world’s modus operandi.
While instant gratification may be convenient, it ruins our ability to exercise self-control. We certainly don’t need instructions on how to be impatient and selfish.
Does God’s Word give us any insight on this matter?
Short-Term Earthly Treasures
Matthew 6:19–21, a short portion of the well-known text we call Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” contains principles for the future Kingdom and godly living:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus’ teaching about treasure in heaven indicates a reward awaits believers in the future.
The short-term investment of earthly treasures is subject to theft, decay, and dissatisfaction.
The command to not invest in earthly treasures opposes the age-old malady of thinking short-term and longing for satisfaction without waiting. Admittedly, short-term rewards often seem fulfilling and satisfying. However, such rewards often lead to discontentment, and we quickly move along as our desires shift to something else promising elusive contentment. Let’s face it—the short-term investment of earthly treasures is subject to theft, decay, and dissatisfaction.
Eternal Heavenly Treasures
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” another present-tense imperative, also indicates a continuous command to store up treasures in heaven. Unlike earthly rewards, heavenly treasures are not subject to robbery or deterioration.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1, the apostle Paul reminded the believers in Corinth that the things of this life are temporary: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This verse clearly speaks of our earthly bodies and how we anticipate eternity.
After Paul addressed our earthly existence, he shifted his focus upward: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (vv. 9–10). Unlike the Great White Throne Judgment, where God judges unbelievers’ sin, the judgment seat mentioned here is the Bema Seat, where we will be rewarded with a crown, like at an athletic event, rather than being punished.
In Matthew 6:21, Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Notably, the verb will be appears in the future, not present, tense, teaching us what our eternal perspective should be. An honest appraisal of ourselves would likely reveal that we are willing to arrange (and rearrange) our schedules, finances, and relationships in order to pursue what we truly value. In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Chris Miller writes: “We treasure and work for the things we truly love, so our treasures are the best measure of the state of our hearts.”
Focus on Pleasing Christ
As we look forward to these future rewards, we must recognize three key aspects of investing in heavenly treasures:
1. A desire for instant gratification reveals a self-centered heart, one that invests a person’s resources in pursuit of immediate satisfaction. Are your mind and heart set on things above, where Christ is? Colossians 3:1–4 instructs us to set our minds on things above, for “when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (v. 4).
Laying up treasure in heaven is tied to our faith and whom we desire to please.
2. Investing in eternity also reminds us that we are not in charge. If we had our way, we would control outcomes, situations, and relationships to gain what we want. However, God is sovereign. He is in charge—and He knows what is best for each of us.
3. Laying up treasure in heaven is tied to our faith and whom we desire to please. When we aim to serve Christ, our hearts will long for heaven.
May the focus of our hearts reflect these words penned by the hymn writer Helen Lemmel:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Photo Credit: Adobe Stock
About the Author
