December 1st 2019
Are You Building Treasure On Earth Or In Heaven?
Matthew 6:24 (NIV)
No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Are you building treasure on earth or in heaven? In this life we will all serve other people in some form, either in our profession or within our family. Some of us will shirk from such a responsibility because we will refuse to accept such a responsibility or maybe in some cases, because we cannot serve others because of some frailty in our physical or spiritual senses! Jesus often told people that they needed to be more concerned about working to gain treasures in heaven, than they should work to gain wealth on this earth. In the selected verses Jesus tells us, “No-one can serve two masters.” Jesus makes it a little clearer when He says, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
I do not believe that Jesus is telling His followers to shirk their responsibilities towards other people, but He is telling us the order of greatest responsibility, is that we must always put God first! In the USA today we have established this day dubbed Black Friday, as a shopping day! This is being done to help the stores be in the Black, showing a profit for their fiscal year. Are you doing your part to go out and buy that earthly treasure for someone else, or even for yourself?
We have now entered what many people call the holiday season, which is kicked off either by Thanksgiving Day or maybe more aptly to many by Black Friday. Stores and people could not wait to kickoff this season of greed, so many stores where open for business on Thanksgiving Day, they just could not contain their joy of shopping, and making money for even one more day! Okay, maybe greed is too harsh of a term, but it certainly trying to be first in line to buy that special “thing” that you believe your child or some loved one just must have for Xmas and is available in limited quantities so you had to beat the rush and grab one or two of them, on Thanksgiving Day! Tomorrow may be too late, and your loved one would be disappointed on Xmas.
In the church of my choice Sunday the pastor said the word holiday was coined from the two words Holy Day, which is now how most people refer to this season of earthly gift giving and celebration. I got some descriptions of holiday from the Internet, as follows! The words are the same except for their spelling. Holiday is only a more recent spelling of the word holyday. But that new spelling does make quite a difference. It takes the holiness out of it, and perhaps it does so deliberately. I certainly agree with this description, and the desired effect to using this term Holiday Season instead of calling this season what it originally was coined as the Christmas Season, because it came about to observe the birth of the Savior of the world, His Name in Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season not Black Friday! And Thanksgiving Day was established to give thanks to God for His indescribable gift of the Savior of this world! Paul wrote about this wonderful gift from God to all of mankind. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:13-15).
Jesus tried to describe the “greater gift” when He still walked this earth. Jesus likened the treasure of heaven and how obtaining it will change the life of those who possess it. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44). Jesus said this man recognized the value of “The kingdom of heaven” and he accepted it as a gift through grace and he hid it, in his heart, so no one would not take it from him. Then knowing how valuable his salvation is, he sold everything he owned of earthly value, so he could retain this wonderful gift of salvation! You see he traded all his earthly wealth so he could retain the gift of heaven. He knew the real wealth is not possession of earthly things it is the wealth on heavenly treasures, which he now possessed! He did retain a small earthly place where he could retain his newfound salvation! We must live on this cursed world until our lifetime continues in heaven with Jesus.
From the Internet I obtained some more descriptions of the uses of the word holiday, as follows: Holiday – when used as a noun - a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. Holiday – when used as a verb - spend a holiday in a specified place. Then I got this description of the Lord’s day, as follows; Sunday is a day of rest in most Western countries, as a part of the weekend and weeknight. For most observant Christians, Sunday is observed as a day of worship and rest, holding it as the Lord's Day and the day of Christ's resurrection. So, as you can see, we could refer to the sabbath day as a holiday to, although it seems better to stick the more holy use of it as a holy day! At the end of our worship service we display a saying something like the following, “The worship service has ended, now let the service begin!” Do you keep holy the sabbath day by doing your best to avoid working on it?
Paul wrote about giving thanks in all circumstances, which seems good to think about right after Thanksgiving Day. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It is easy to take this advice when everything is going well, but not so easy in difficult times. If any of you are currently experiencing some less then wonderful times right now, try to remember Jesus loves you and is sharing your troubles with you. Jesus may even be carrying you now so you can continue life and try to be happy too! John wrote about what Jesus said about those who have chosen to follow Him. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30).
Are you building treasure on earth or in heaven? It is true, you can do both, but make sure your priority is to emphasize the heavenly wealth accumulation, and God will make your lifetime better too. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21). Remember your salvation that Jesus purchased for you and be thankful. Your heart contains your heavenly joy, and the Holy Spirit to remind you that heaven is in your future, now that is a wonderful gift, and something to be eternally grateful for! Can you tell someone who may not have salvation, how great of a gift Jesus is? Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Matthew 6:24 (NIV)
No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Are you building treasure on earth or in heaven? In this life we will all serve other people in some form, either in our profession or within our family. Some of us will shirk from such a responsibility because we will refuse to accept such a responsibility or maybe in some cases, because we cannot serve others because of some frailty in our physical or spiritual senses! Jesus often told people that they needed to be more concerned about working to gain treasures in heaven, than they should work to gain wealth on this earth. In the selected verses Jesus tells us, “No-one can serve two masters.” Jesus makes it a little clearer when He says, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
I do not believe that Jesus is telling His followers to shirk their responsibilities towards other people, but He is telling us the order of greatest responsibility, is that we must always put God first! In the USA today we have established this day dubbed Black Friday, as a shopping day! This is being done to help the stores be in the Black, showing a profit for their fiscal year. Are you doing your part to go out and buy that earthly treasure for someone else, or even for yourself?
We have now entered what many people call the holiday season, which is kicked off either by Thanksgiving Day or maybe more aptly to many by Black Friday. Stores and people could not wait to kickoff this season of greed, so many stores where open for business on Thanksgiving Day, they just could not contain their joy of shopping, and making money for even one more day! Okay, maybe greed is too harsh of a term, but it certainly trying to be first in line to buy that special “thing” that you believe your child or some loved one just must have for Xmas and is available in limited quantities so you had to beat the rush and grab one or two of them, on Thanksgiving Day! Tomorrow may be too late, and your loved one would be disappointed on Xmas.
In the church of my choice Sunday the pastor said the word holiday was coined from the two words Holy Day, which is now how most people refer to this season of earthly gift giving and celebration. I got some descriptions of holiday from the Internet, as follows! The words are the same except for their spelling. Holiday is only a more recent spelling of the word holyday. But that new spelling does make quite a difference. It takes the holiness out of it, and perhaps it does so deliberately. I certainly agree with this description, and the desired effect to using this term Holiday Season instead of calling this season what it originally was coined as the Christmas Season, because it came about to observe the birth of the Savior of the world, His Name in Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season not Black Friday! And Thanksgiving Day was established to give thanks to God for His indescribable gift of the Savior of this world! Paul wrote about this wonderful gift from God to all of mankind. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:13-15).
Jesus tried to describe the “greater gift” when He still walked this earth. Jesus likened the treasure of heaven and how obtaining it will change the life of those who possess it. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44). Jesus said this man recognized the value of “The kingdom of heaven” and he accepted it as a gift through grace and he hid it, in his heart, so no one would not take it from him. Then knowing how valuable his salvation is, he sold everything he owned of earthly value, so he could retain this wonderful gift of salvation! You see he traded all his earthly wealth so he could retain the gift of heaven. He knew the real wealth is not possession of earthly things it is the wealth on heavenly treasures, which he now possessed! He did retain a small earthly place where he could retain his newfound salvation! We must live on this cursed world until our lifetime continues in heaven with Jesus.
From the Internet I obtained some more descriptions of the uses of the word holiday, as follows: Holiday – when used as a noun - a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. Holiday – when used as a verb - spend a holiday in a specified place. Then I got this description of the Lord’s day, as follows; Sunday is a day of rest in most Western countries, as a part of the weekend and weeknight. For most observant Christians, Sunday is observed as a day of worship and rest, holding it as the Lord's Day and the day of Christ's resurrection. So, as you can see, we could refer to the sabbath day as a holiday to, although it seems better to stick the more holy use of it as a holy day! At the end of our worship service we display a saying something like the following, “The worship service has ended, now let the service begin!” Do you keep holy the sabbath day by doing your best to avoid working on it?
Paul wrote about giving thanks in all circumstances, which seems good to think about right after Thanksgiving Day. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It is easy to take this advice when everything is going well, but not so easy in difficult times. If any of you are currently experiencing some less then wonderful times right now, try to remember Jesus loves you and is sharing your troubles with you. Jesus may even be carrying you now so you can continue life and try to be happy too! John wrote about what Jesus said about those who have chosen to follow Him. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30).
Are you building treasure on earth or in heaven? It is true, you can do both, but make sure your priority is to emphasize the heavenly wealth accumulation, and God will make your lifetime better too. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21). Remember your salvation that Jesus purchased for you and be thankful. Your heart contains your heavenly joy, and the Holy Spirit to remind you that heaven is in your future, now that is a wonderful gift, and something to be eternally grateful for! Can you tell someone who may not have salvation, how great of a gift Jesus is? Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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