Read: Matthew 6:19-34
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. (v. 19)
My wife and I lived in the Netherlands from 2009 to 2010. When we decided to return to the United States, we did a number of things anyone in our position would have done. We evaluated which of our possessions we would ship across the ocean and which we would sell. After selling our items, we closed our bank account in the Netherlands and transferred all the money to an account in the United States. That money was then converted from euros to dollars. I had no need to “lay up treasures” for myself in the Netherlands. I needed my money in a currency I could use.
What I did was simply common sense, but we often don’t have the same forward-looking common sense when it comes to laying up treasures on earth. We can’t buy a better place in heaven with our money. We live like Smaug the dragon in The Hobbit, sitting on treasure we can’t use. What use are gold coins and jewels to a dragon? And what use are the riches of this world when we stand before our Maker on judgment day?
In his powerful book The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn says, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.” We send it ahead by giving it away to causes in line with the values of God’s kingdom. Let’s be eternal investors, who change the currency of this world into something lasting. —Jeff Munroe
As you pray, consider how you are being called to send it ahead by giving generously.
About the Author
Jeff Munroe is the editor of the Reformed Journal and, in addition to being the author of the best-selling book Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher, is also a poet, blogger, and essayist. His work has appeared in Christianity Today, The Christian Century, US Catholic, and The Reformed Journal.
