Responsibility to Lay Up Treasures

Lay Up Treasures

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  —Matthew 6:19-21

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
—II Corinthians 4:18

Name of God: El-Olam: The Eternal God

            Responsibility is a word that can quickly frustrate and overwhelm and burden a person.  It can be very easy to get caught up with all the things we have to do in our lives.  We have monetary responsibilities, especially as men, who are expected Biblically to take care of their families.  We have relational responsibilities to care for our families, our friends, the ones God has given us to disciple, and the lost.  We have responsibilities at church, at school, at work, and at home.  Responsibility is a huge umbrella that covers almost every single facet of our lives.  As a guy who is thinking a lot about the future, I can certainly relate to this.  My thoughts often go to where I will be in five years or so, perhaps with a wife, children, a home, a career, a ministry, a goldfish.  All of those things require responsibility from me then and now to prepare.  I want to start becoming the best possible husband and father I can be right now, as well as the best servant of God that I can possibly be.  As I finish up school and focus on assignments and deadlines and people and family, all of the responsibilities weigh heavily.  When we begin to get overwhelmed about all the things we have to do here on earth, it is important to take a step back, and examine things through an eternal lens.  This can be ridiculously difficult.  It is a nice thought, but often we simply feel that we do not have enough time to dwell on that kind of thing. It is so important to keep things in perspective, however.  Part of laying up treasures in heaven is fulfilling responsibilities here on earth.  Having a kingdom-minded focus of responsibility and laying up treasures in heaven will not negate most of the earthly responsibilities we have to fulfill.  However, it does help to prioritize things in a different way.  Which responsibilities are laying up treasure, and which are not?  When we look at things in light of eternity, our lives suddenly come into focus with sometimes entirely different meaning.  Let us take a step back and look at the eternal things in our lives today, to compartmentalize internal things properly.