Read Matthew 6:19-24
I studied through this passage several days ago, but with the busyness of the season, I am just getting around to blogging about it. Christmas is over now. Gifts have been given and we are enjoying those new things we have found under our tree. With that in mind, I think it is apropos to shift our minds to those things we treasure.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.
The Greek word for “store up” (thēsaurizō) is in the imperative mood (it’s a command, not a suggestion) and it means to amass or reserve; to gather and lay up, heap up. It implies accumulating riches. “Treasures” (thēsauros) refers to a deposit; wealth or collected treasures.
Did you catch that both “store up” and “treasures” are merely different forms of the same Greek word? This phrase could then be read as “Do not treasure for yourself treasures on earth”. I looked up the verb form of “treasure” in the dictionary – to hold or keep as precious : cherish, prize : to collect and store up (something of value) for future use : hoard.
That is a wide plethora of emotions, isn’t it? If I hold something as precious, I am surely not giving it to anyone else. If I cherish something, it has taken up a place in my heart. If I hoard something, the dictionary says that I am keeping it to myself. All of those facets of “treasure” reflect a self-centered bent. That’s probably why God included “for yourselves” in that command not to treasure our treasures (wink).
Jesus then tells us why earthly treasured treasures are a bad way to go. Things amassed here on earth are subject to decay, wear and tear (“moth and rust destroy”), or being stolen. Things here on earth are not safe investments. How senseless would it be for someone to invest their money in stocks that are known to go down in value? No, if you’re investing in something, it will be in a commodity that promises an increase.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
In the Greek language, the word “heart” (kardia) means thoughts and feelings of the MIND. So that phrase could read, “where your treasure is, that’s where your mind will be.” Luther wrote, “What a man loves, that is his God. For he carries it in his heart, he goes about with it day and night; he sleeps with it and wakes with it; be what it may – wealth, pelf (property), pleasure, or renown.”
Let me just say that Jesus is so smart. After addressing the mind where it applies to stuff, He segued right into verses 22-24 where He taught about perspective.
The eye is the lamp of the body.
The Greek word for eye was used metaphorically in this verse to mean the eyes of the MIND, and the word lamp was used to denote that the eye (mind) shows the body which was to move and turn. What comes to mind is “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”, (Psalm 119:105). Have you ever noticed, when you’re driving and something catches your eye, you tend to steer in the direction of the thing that caught your attention? What your mind focuses on is the direction your life will go.
Where you stare, you steer.
In the Greek lexicon, the word body (sōma) was referred to as “the instrument of the soul”. That left me with … just wow…
When Jesus described the two types of “eye”, healthy or bad, the definitions held a lot of wisdom. Healthy (haplous) means folded together or single, which brought to mind James 1:8 (“…a double minded man, unstable in all his ways”). Bad (ponēros) means hurtful, evil (in effect or influence); diseased or blind; of a bad nature or condition.
The long and short of what Jesus is saying here is that you can’t look two directions at the same time. If your mind is rightly focused on things of eternal value, then your life will reflect that. However, if your mind is focused on your stuff here on earth, that too will be evident in the way your live and the things you value.
If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
Jesus said that if the focus of your MIND is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. Full of darkness (skoteinos) means opaque; benighted. I had to look that last word up in the dictionary. Haha. Benighted means overtaken in darkness; existing in a state of intellectual, moral, or social darkness. That brought to mind 1 John 1:6-7, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
We as believers have to choose to discipline our minds to focus on things of eternal value and not things that have fleeting value. May our prayer be “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”, (Psalm 19:14).
Having an eternal perspective matters.
Let me leave you with a prayer of the psalmist – “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”, (Psalm 139:23). And just a little hint, my next blog entry is gonna address being anxious about things. If you struggle with that, make sure you check back for my next entry.