Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 22

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

                                                                        Matthew 6:19-21 (NRSVue)

Valuing wisdom over money is not original with the Sermon on the Mount.  It is very prominent in Proverbs 2, which indicates that wisdom and faithfulness will be a better preservation for a person than wealth.  

Within the Apocrypha, we see this in Sirach 29 where the passage ties back to alms giving which was the subject at the beginning of this chapter.  Specifically, Sirach 29:8-13 states, 

Nevertheless, be patient with someone in humble circumstances, and do not keep him waiting for your alms.  Help the poor for the commandment’s sake, and in their need do not send them away empty-handed.  Lose your silver for the sake of a brother or a friend, and do not let it rust under a stone and be lost.  Lay up your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High, and it will profit you more than gold.  Store up alms giving in your treasury, and it will rescue you from every disaster; better than a stout shield and a sturdy spear, it will fight for you against the enemy.

This could also give hip problems!

Really, this allows us to consider in whom we place our trust.  If we are too obsessed with our savings or pensions or the things they can purchase, we may find ourselves always in need, no matter how much we accumulate.  I've heard that people of every income level believe that if they had just 10% more, they would be okay.  The fact that it doesn't matter if you earn $50K or $500K makes us realize that our wants may often be confused as needs.

What does it mean to store up treasure in heaven?  

This has to do with following the practices outlined up to this point in the Sermon on the Mount.  And as we begin to practice these more regularly, it may be that our desires or obsessions begin to wane.

Prayer for the day:  Ever-generous God, give us this day our daily bread.  May it be enough for us in a way that is fundamental to our lives.  Let us be secure in you so that we don't feel the need to overcompensate through the things we purchase and collect.  And as we recognize the gifts you share with us, may we also be generous toward the rest of your children.  We pray this as Jesus lived.  Amen.

 

 Photo by Mike Ying via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.