Thoughts from the Sermon on the Mount…
Anyone who is old enough to remember the 1990’s remembers the Beanie Baby craze. The popular toys were small stuffed animals of different kinds and styles. Each Beanie Baby came with its own special name on a heavily protected tag. New styles were released and retired, causing an investment frenzy. Investors predicted that the rarest styles would be worth thousands in only a few years. Some people lost fortunes when the market crashed. Now, Beanie Babies are worth no more than a few cents at a local yard sale.
It is hard to talk about money. The very mention of money causes our mind to follow familiar mental paths: How much do I have? How can I get more? Why does someone else have more than me? Why does someone else have less than me? What can I spend? What should I save?
It is even harder to talk about money when studying the Bible. We have all heard about greedy preachers who used God’s word as a way to make themselves rich. But there are also preachers who have the opposite problem, who refuse to talk about money for fear of offending their listeners.
But Jesus teaches about money, and He is neither greedy nor apologetic. When He addressed this subject during the Sermon on the Mount, he taught about more than money, he taught about treasures.
Your treasure is more than the size of your bank account, your income, or your investments. Jesus does not mention numbers at all! Instead, the issue is what is important to you?
Once again, it is about your treasure.
How secure are your valuables?
Where do you spend your life? What is important to you?
What do you look for in life? Do you lose sight of Jesus Christ?
How important is the dollar? What rules you?
Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Sapphire Sky 