Where Is Your Heart?

Where Is Your Heart?

“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.” Matt. 6:20-21.

Heavenly treasures are not earthly or material things. Each commandment is a heavenly treasure.

These heavenly treasures can become ours if we hold on to them during the trials of life. They are a rich gift from our God, a rock on which to build our lives. They are valuable, like the most precious diamonds or pearls. Through the commandments, we have been given a “Jacob’s ladder” that reaches up to heaven, where Jesus Himself entered by walking according to the same commandments. That is also what Aksel J. Smith wrote about in his song, no. 321 in Ways of the Lord.

Many of us live in a church environment where these treasures are present in abundance. We are able to eat from a richly prepared table, spiritually speaking. Those who allow the commandment to break all ties with the lusts of the flesh and their self-will, have understood to invest in a life according to the requirements of the commandment by committing their own lust and their own will into death. They have made use of these opportunities, faithfully gathering treasures in heaven. They possess a life that is lived according to God’s commandments and before His face, which consists of the treasures they have laid up in heaven.

How is it with us? Do we also gather treasures? Are we laying hold of today’s opportunities in the same way? Do we add victory to victory as we deny ourselves every day, take up our cross, and carry out the will of God?

Those who live to gain approval from people, do not store up treasures in heaven. It is through a hidden life with Christ in God that we gather treasures in heaven, while earthly-minded people gather treasures on earth. Having a good reputation, recognition, fame, and honor are what matter most to them. The desire for these things gives many people the strength to excel in what they are praised for, but when they do it for people, they have already received their reward. This praise is their treasure; it is earthly and it disappears along with the people who give it to them. Eccles. 4:4.

In Col. 3:2, we are exhorted to set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth. The testimony of God is found above; but we get the testimony of man here on earth. “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Matt. 6:17-18

Why are so many believers so overwhelmingly attached to what is earthly, and are troubled, worried, and offended by so many things? It is because it has not yet become important for them to be hidden from people and to only give account to their heavenly Father. In the assurance of our Father’s care for us and His attention to our hidden lives, faithfulness to the commandments is of crucial importance, right down to the hidden thoughts and intents of our hearts. By this obedience, which is not witnessed by people, eternal heavenly treasures are created, and where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.