Matthew 6:19-24; Psalm 139:23-24



The passage from the Sermon of the Mount this week is one in which Jesus addresses the foundational difference between people of the world and people of the Kingdom. The main difference should be found in who we worship. People of the world worship the things of this world, but the people of the Kingdom should worship the King of kings and Lord of lords.  

Jesus wisely comes to us with a challenging topic by first pushing into the things we treasure. It’s a casual question that any of us should be able to answer, but also is quite evident by the practical ways in which we live. Jesus is simply asking us what are the things we value most? What do we spend the most money obtaining? What do we spend the most time doing? What do we spend the most mental energy on? What are the things we are most proud of or cause us the most anxiety? Our honest answers to these questions reveal where our treasure is, and as Jesus goes on to point out, the most valuable treasures are the ones that are eternal - that cannot be corrupted or tainted by the world, treasures that we will enjoy in this life and the life to come.

After getting us thinking about what we value, He draws us another step closer to His primary concern by talking about the quality of our eyes. While to us a bit cryptic, to the Jews of Jesus’ day it was understood quite clearly. The term He uses for a healthy eye is one that speaks “of one who is generous with all he has”, while the term for a bad eye is “one who is miserly and does not share freely with others”. His point is clear that the quality of our eyes is determined by what we are focused on. If we are selfishly seeking to hoard all that we have, then we are filled with darkness. On the other hand, “the ones who freely give what they have freely received”, are full of eternal light and life.

Finally, Jesus gets to the main point He’s wanting to make: you can only serve one master. Specifically, we cannot serve both money and possessions, while at the same time serving God. To have started by calling out our idolatry would likely have caused us to defend ourselves and try to refute His accusations. But by inviting us to honestly evaluate what we treasure and our level of generosity first, we find ourselves trapped by our words and are convicted of the ramifications. If we are treasuring things of this world, then that means our eyes are focused on selfishness, and the darkness that results is the clear evidence that proves our worship of money rather than God.

In this passage Jesus is challenging our idolatry. He’s declaring that our lack of generosity reveals our worship of darkness rather than light. He’s proclaiming that our love for the things of this world proves our heart is not His. Jesus is calling His people to cast away their idols and the things of this world that they are living for, and worship God alone. He’s teaching His people that His Father is a jealous God who will not share His children with others. His children will have eyes for Him only and as they gaze upon His face, they will be filled with eternal light that will then generously and abundantly shine out of them into the dark shadows of the world. And as that light goes forth from them it will accomplish great works for His Kingdom and will store up eternal treasures for them that will never fade or be stolen. Where is your treasure? 

What you value most is your treasure. Where you spend your time and your money is your treasure. Whatever dominates your conversation is what you treasure. What others know you for is a good indication of what your treasure is:

• What are the things you value most?
• What do you spend the most money obtaining?
• What do you spend the most time doing?
• What do you spend the most mental energy on?
• What are the things you are most proud of or cause you the most anxiety?

Heavenly Father, thank you for this 21 day Fast and the opportunity to Seek your face. At the beginning of these special days I ask you to search my heart and reveal the wicked ways within me. I long to treasure you above all else. May these verses and songs expose the things I treasure more than you. Amen.