“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

Jesus taught a great deal about our desire for power and possessions, and His teaching blurs the line between the two.  Our desire for wealth, possessions, power, social position, prestige and the messy mix of it all is an outward indication of our spiritual condition.  As we grow toward Him, our focus shifts to Him, our desire shifts to His will, and our behavior changes.

Jesus urges us to seek Him, to look to Him, to desire Him.  He urges us to love God with all we have and all we are, and to do so first, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  He urges us offer ourselves fully to God as His servants which, when lived out in the world, becomes serving others with compassion, love and humility.  The only way we can truly do this is through Christ Jesus and the spiritual transformation available through His indwelling Holy Spirit.  As we allow His Holy Spirit in, we gradually release our focus on worldly things, and aspects of the world once extremely important to us are gradually replaced with a heart for God through Christ Jesus and a heart for other people.

Spiritual transformation through Christ Jesus reveals itself through our behavior.  Jesus focuses on certain aspects of our lives as key indicators revealing our spiritual condition, such as pride, pursuit of status and power, and pursuit of possessions.  As we seek God, see who He is, and realize our nothingness in comparison to Him, we become less likely to lift ourselves up and less concerned about what others think about us.  As we worship God, our view of ourselves shrinks and we realize our true value is only found through Him.

The passage above is from the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus explains that the substance of our treasure reveals the condition of our heart.  The word translated as treasure refers to the contents of a safe, vault or similar place where valuable things are kept.  What do you have that is so important you want to secure it in the safest possible place?  Is it gold, or perhaps more accurate today, the number printed on your monthly account balances, or is it the security you feel because of the number?  Or perhaps it is social status, which often follows wealth.  Or is the total package of wealth, status, being held in honor by others, and the mixture of it all?

John writes, 

 Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world – the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches – comes not from the Father but from the world.  And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.  1 John 2:15-17

It is all temporary.  It will all be gone.  Life is short and everything of this world expires, and if we treasure worldly things, we are focusing on a vapor that will soon vanish.  The notion that security available through worldly things is a mirage because it will all disappear, and if God chooses to allow us to enjoy material blessings until we die, in that instant it will all be left behind.  At some point we will each be forced to focus on matters of eternal significance – our relationship with God through Christ Jesus, our relationships with others, and the status of our spirits and souls.

James writes,

Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?  But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,
    but gives grace to the humble.”

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:4-7

Friends of the world are God’s enemies, but even the disciples became caught up in the pursuit of status and power.  John and James asked Jesus if He would grant them the honor of being seated next to Him in His kingdom.  Jesus replied saying that they did not understand what they were asking, and that honor was not His to give.  When the other disciples heard about their request, they were angry with James and John (see Mark 10:35-41).  Their anger indicates that they were all vying for power, jockeying for position in the kingdom.  Mark records the account concluding as follows:

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.  So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:41-45

Jesus called all the disciples together for a meeting.  He explained, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).  Social status, worldly power and wealth are not valued in the kingdom.  Loving service to others is.

We each need to ask ourselves, what do I seek?  What do I value?  What am I spending my precious time here on earth to achieve?  Are we chasing wordly things that, like vapor, will soon disappear?  Or are we treasuring heavenly things?

Jesus urges us to seek God first through Him, to look to Christ Jesus, to find our rest in Christ Jesus and to allow His spiritual transformation because through Him we gain the ability to respond to His calling, discover our purpose, and gain the ability to see others as beings created in God’s image.  May you continue seeking Him, desiring Him, moving along the path toward Him and His holiness, and revealing His glory out in the world.  Amen.