“32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Luke 12:32-34
Love those verses. You can hang the priorities, actions and attitudes of your life on these four verses and walk away with a godly perspective on real kingdom living. The first thing that comes to mind when I read those verses is heaven. If he tells us to put treasure where thieves and moths can’t bother it then he must be talking about a place out of reach or out of sink with what is a part of our normal experience/existence. What seems to be another clue that this is at least part of what Jesus is talking about is he starts by saying they have been given the kingdom. We all know that has something to do with heaven.
But I think these verses have far more to tell us than just something to do a zillion years from now beyond the pearly gates. Jesus tells them in 12:33 that kingdom living has just as much to do with life on earth as it does with life after life. He tells them then to sell their possessions and give to the poor. The next command is for them to have purses that won’t wear out. But didn’t he just tell them to sell what they had? What will they need a purse for if there is nothing to put in it? The purse Jesus is talking about is figurative. He is telling them to get ready to store up what is really important. Since you have received the kingdom from God get ready to store up something even better than silver and gold.
Jesus tells them to store up “treasure” (θησαυρος) means something that is collected because of its value. How do you store up something that cannot be touched? Not only can the thief and moth not touch this treasure. We can’t either! Maybe the point is, there are things in life more valuable than that which can be touched. If we value those things as they should be valued then we will know that we want to be a much a part of them as possible. If we place our hearts with the temporary and material then it only makes sense that what we value most will one day be taken away. But even worse than that, if that is what we value most then the most valuable things in life have already been taken away as we fail to see the significance and value in everything from loved ones to God himself.
When you have experienced or given complete, unconditional love to someone else you treasure those moments. When you give or receive forgiveness you want to store those moments up. When you have an “aha” moment about the kingdom of God you hunger for more. When you share time with your wife and kids it only makes you wish there were more hours in the day. Treasure is about collecting or storing up that which is valuable to you. So the question comes, what do you value most and how could it be determined by those things you store up the most of?
If someone were to look at your life, what do you think they would say you value or treasure the most?
