Bible verses to build your life on

Jesus said: “… whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” ~ Matthew 7:24

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Hey! I found buried treasure!... but, will it last? ~ study

October 2010

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth..." Matthew 6:19-21 ~ Let's 'dig' deeper, shall we? :)

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"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." ~ Matthew 6:19-21

So, where shall we dig first? :)

No, really! In Jesus' day, it was customary to bury the most valuable earthly treasures one possessed in a spot in their field that only they (and sometimes on 1 person) knew where it was. And, they, of course, did that at night - hoping no one would see where they buried it and dig it up and steal it. Also, the houses were mad of mud back then, and it was also easy to use a shovel and dig into a house to steal goods, from what I've heard... At any rate, you get the idea, and this is the word picture Jesus uses here - literally - do not store your treasures here on Earth, because some can dig them out and steal them.

On dust, threads and moths - Back in Jesus' day, clothing was very valuable and most common people would only have a few (at most) clothes - full-length tunic - different culture, different time (you can do an internet search to see Hebrew dress back then, it's pretty interesting...) Anyway, back to the subject. Also, back then, the people had no sewing machines, so if a piece of clothing was torn or destroyed somehow, or stained, it was very, very hard to replace, because it took a great amount of time to sew clothes - very tedious work, much of which is streamlined almost to a science all across the globe today. So, as you can imagine, moths were a dreaded enemy, for they (and their larva) could devour one's livelihood in just a short time - something that would take at least weeks to make. - Again, Jesus is reminding those who were listening to Him not to store up their earthly wealth in clothes, that are easily eaten by moths.

Also, rust was a bigger issue back then, because they didn't have all of the preserving chemicals we have today. So, much of the metal objects they had could (and did) rust over time - and buying new ones weren't cheap because it was harder to make and harder to find the materials and the people to make them.

I should also note - As some of you have probably already noticed, Jesus was most often not talking to the rich, for many of the rich had all they wanted and had no need for God and the truth Jesus was teaching. So, most often, the people listening to Him were poor. In fact, by their standards then, almost all Americans would be considered rich, for most of them lived day-to-day, meal-to-meal - something, most of us don't have to worry so much about. And everything took longer, was harder to do, and are had to be handled more carefully, because getting a replacement was very, very hard to do. ~

So, losing ones livelihood - clothes, what little gold and silver one had, or what metal farm or herding or construction tools one had, would have meant a devastating loss. And yet, they needed these things to work to eat, to live and provide for their families. That's who Jesus is talking to, saying: work, but don't spend your earthly wealth on gold and silver, clothing, or tools for earning food - spend your wealth on eternal things, where "neither moth nor rust destroy, nor thieves break in and steal..."

A good reminder for all of us - for hoarding shows right where our heart, and motives, already are. For where we are putting our treasure - is a testament to what really has our attention. So, may we use this as a great reminder to look at our checkbooks, look at our daily planners, look at our tools, examine how we are spending the most valuable of our resources: time, energy, enthusiasm - what are we spending them on? Ourselves? Our friends? Or growing in truth ourselves and sharing it? Using the money we earn to provide for the small family-ministry God is using us as a part of?

Well, that's thoughts to dig deeper in, for all of us! ~

Take care ~ your bro and a growing servant/life-slave of Jesus, SH