I LOVE your site and it has helped me get reinvigorated about reading the Bible. My question is this, you constantly mention storing up our treasures in heaven and not worrying about earthly treasures. I have given my life to Jesus Christ the Lord and know there is nothing I can do to earn eternal salvation, that includes any accumulation of treasures I am attempt to store in heaven. So what is next? I am saved by Jesus’ blood yet I still love in this world, I still strive for financial gain to better my families comfort, and to enjoy life, vacations and family time! If God really intended us to fore go all worldly things and only store up heaven’s treasures then there would be no working Christians or Christians striving to better ourselves and our families because these are worldly things…what say you?
Storing up treasure in Heaven means using some of our resources to further God’s work on Earth. I believe the Bible asks us to set aside a minimum of 10% for this purpose. People who do this find that God increases their resources to the point that their standard of living actually improves. This is a fulfillment of the Lord’s promise in Luke 8:38 that He’ll use the same measure in blessing us that we use in giving to Him.
Many go on to contribute even more, and when they do they discover that God responds in the same way toward them. They learn that God has a never ending supply of blessings. This is why Paul could promise that we can be made rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion (2 Cor. 9:11) With Him you really can have your cake and eat it too. It’s the best motivation for striving to get ahead you could imagine, and instead of being self-centered and temporary, it’s God centered and eternal.