Gospel Reflections #494: Our Greatest Wealth

Matthew 6:19,20 “He said, "Do not lay up wealth on the earth, but lay it up for yourselves, that you may be rich. For there the worm worms will bite and rust, and thieves will sneak in and steal. But lay up your riches in heaven. There the worm shall not devour it, nor shall it rust, nor shall the thief creep in or steal it out."

We may not be so blinded by our earthly riches that we are at the mercy of them. Rather, we may receive earthly wealth as a bad thing.

Money, status, honor, etc., we may hate the hairs on our heads, but they are also somewhat necessary for our earthly lives.

Why do we think about earthly or heavenly wealth?

It is because we, ourselves, have a desire to feel secure, to be safe, and to have a certain amount of material and spiritual comfort.

That is not a bad thing, but the question is what to fill them with. Is it about accumulating wealth in heaven or "accumulating virtue" by doing lots of good deeds?

We are growing the fruit of God's character by living in His Word.

Our wealth is the fruit of character, which allows us to become more like Jesus.

Rather than worrying about the fruit of character, we need to focus on continuing to seek to be faithful to God's Word and to be willing to accept the leading of the Holy Spirit.

As long as we do not give up, God will watch over and care for our growth and hold us accountable to completion.

We may need to inspect our relationship with God from time to time, checking what we are filling our own security and safety with.

In this way, we repeatedly take inventory of our hearts and go to God to ask Him to replenish what is missing!

God has already prepared what we lack and is waiting for us.

The real treasure in heaven is not our good deeds or faith but our personal relationship with God.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ