Treasures

Question:

Matthew 6 verse 19 says , do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth... Does this mean we should not save up our money in savings accounts or in pennny banks or jars hiding under our beds etc...

Answer:


The Bible is the word of God and it speaks meaningfully to our life situation. But in order to understand the message of the Bible we need to interpret it accurately. Sometimes the Bible uses figurative language to compare things which is allowed in any literature. Such words cannot be taken literally.


We need to understand Matt 6:19 in light of Matt 6:21 which says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Jesus is certainly not against wealth or earning money. But here he is just warning about not being carried away by the love of money or set your priority on it. Money is a good servant but a terrible master. We need to use money wisely recognizing we are God's stewards. Rather than merely accumulating material wealth we need to understand there is a heavenly bank account where rewards for our good deeds done here on earth gets credited. This means we need to live not just for the present but in light of eternity.



So we cannot extend the meaning of the verse to say that Christians should not save money at all. It was certainly not Jesus' intention. When our hearts are set on God and not on material things we are in the right track irrespective of our material status in life.