The Bible Project Daily Podcast You Can’t Take it With You (Matthew 6: 19-21)
Introduction.
There’s an old adage that says you can’t take it with you, if your Spanish they have a similar saying which translated says something like, there are no pockets in a funeral shroud. Again, the point is, “you can’t take it with you”. Suppose I told you that’s not true. Suppose I told you that no less than Jesus Christ taught that you could take it with you, you would probably immediately have a number of questions in your head.
Don’t Lay Up Treasure on Earth.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6: 19-21)
Again, Jesus begins to unpack this issue in the usual way we have seen him address thing so far and he says this is what you should not do.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth”.
By the time the New Testament was written there were three kinds of wealth.
1. Elaborate and expensive clothing and jewelry (Self-explanatory).
2. Crops stored in barns. (So that when the famine came you would have plenty of crops eat or even sell and you could get very rich very quickly).
3. Precious metals (such as gold and silver).
Jesus is teaching that you shouldn’t layup material wealth on earth for the simple reason that it is all temporary, it’s not secure, it’s not permanent and all kinds of natural and human causes could destroy that kind of wealth. Rust, or thieves or rot could destroy material wealth. Moths eat up garments, rust destroys jewelry and precious metals, and thieves can break in and steal valuables.
Jesus is not teaching that's wrong to be wealthy, the Bible does not support the idea. God created material blessings.
Lay Up Treasure in Heaven.
All that stuff you accumulated, and you put it in the bank, and you think it's safe that is a dream, it’s an illusion. Jesus said it can’t be kept safe, there's nothing you can do to make it permanent which is why he says.
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal
What Jesus is saying is you put your treasure in the right place your heart’s will follow. Get your priorities straight and you will get rewarded with what really matter, in this life and in heaven. To clarify this last major point Jesus will gives us two illustrations I want us to look at them because this really focuses in on the fact that this is all about your posture of heart.
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