Possessions don’t last.
Your relationship with God does.
One Last Ride
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
“You can’t take it with you.” But some people certainly have tried. Take Billy Standley. When he died at age 82, he was buried on his 1967 Harley Davidson Electra Glide cruiser. He worked for years fabricating a massive casket of cement, wood, and Plexiglass so everyone could witness his last ride. As the funeral proceeded to the cemetery, onlookers all saw Billy Standley on his bike, surrounded by his trophies. He was determined to try and take it all with him.
That may sound excessive, but we all can get carried away with our possessions. Perhaps you know someone who gets a little crazy about their car, couch, or carpet. Possessions aren’t necessarily bad, but there’s no doubt they can drive a wedge between us and God. If we aren’t careful, we won’t own our possessions—they will own us.
That helps explain why Jesus spoke more about money than just about any other topic. Let’s look back at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and let Christ transform our view of our possessions.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Matthew 6:19-24 (ESV)
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 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!
24 “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.
Treasures (v. 19)—The Greek word translated here literally means “a deposit”; in context, it refers to wealth considered so precious we want to store it up and keep it for ourselves.
Lamp of the body (v. 22)—A portable lamp that gave enough light to help a person find his or her way in the darkness. Such lamps were common in the ancient world and could be attached to a person’s body in a variety of ways.
How does our culture reflect the truth
of Jesus’ statement in verse 21?
Matthew 6:19-21
We all have things we treasure—possessions we value more highly than others do. My wife often asks how many fishing lures one man can possibly need, and my joking response is always the same: “Just one more.” The problem with our possessions is that they can never satisfy. We know this from experience, and yet we still feel the pressure when the next ad reveals something else we can’t live without.
It’s not easy to turn away from earthly possessions, especially in today’s culture. But it’s critical for followers of Christ to do so. The good news from Matthew 6:19-21 is that when we invest in eternal treasures, we send them ahead of us. When we use our resources and possessions to advance God’s kingdom, we collect for ourselves “treasures in heaven.”
One way we can invest in God’s kingdom is through giving to our local church. I believe in the tithe: giving ten percent of my money and resources to God (see Mal. 3:10). Some people say the tithe was a part of the Old Testament law, and therefore doesn’t apply to us today. It’s true that we now live under grace, but grace always goes beyond the letter of the law. I don’t approach tithing as some legalistic practice; instead, it’s my starting point for giving—for acknowledging that everything ultimately belongs to God.
Unfortunately, the church as a whole is doing a poor job of giving our resources back to God. Depending on what research you read, the average Christian gives between 2.5 and 4 percent of what they earn. I believe many in the church are living in financial scarcity because of their decision to withhold their resources from God (see 2 Cor. 9:6). It doesn’t have to be that way. When we trust God with our finances and put Him first, we’ll be transformed in our possessions.
Matthew 6:22-23
How good is your eyesight? According to the Vision Impact Institute, three out of four Americans need vision correction. And of that group, up to 41 percent don’t wear glasses or contacts on a regular basis—but they should. Let me state the obvious: life can be skewed, even dangerous, if it’s not in focus.
That’s equally true if our spiritual focus is out of whack. Jesus spoke of the eye that is “healthy” (or “good”), borrowing from the Jewish idea that a good eye represented a generous attitude. By contrast, a bad eye was stingy and self-focused.
In the modern world, a nearsighted attitude only considers how things affect me. It’s easy to base decisions on our own comfort or pleasure, even to the point where we lose focus on God’s kingdom. We need to remember these words from the apostle Paul: “As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
Several actions will help you maintain a clear focus, so that “your eye is healthy” and “your whole body will be full of light” (Matt. 6:22):
- Fix your eyes daily on Christ (see Heb. 12:2).
- Renew your mind daily through the Word (see Rom. 12:1-2).
- Confess any selfish pursuits, interests, or goals that cloud your vision (see Ps. 119:36-37).
- Invest in others and build up treasures in heaven (see Matt. 6:20-21).
Your spiritual vision is important. Do whatever it takes each day to keep your focus on Christ.
How do these verses
contribute to Jesus’ teaching
about possessions?
When have you felt the tension
of trying to serve two masters?
Matthew 6:24
As the old song says: “You gotta serve somebody.” Ultimately, we serve what we focus on each day.
Most people live their lives as slaves to their own passions and desires, but both Paul and James identified themselves as slaves of Christ (see Rom. 1:1; Jas. 1:1). That may sound ironic, since no one is more free than a follower of Christ. Yet that’s the paradox of the gospel: a life lived for self leads to slavery, while a life lived in service and surrender to Christ leads to freedom.
The thing about being a slave—and, again, everyone serves someone or something—is that you can only have one master. Jesus was clear: if you are serving money, which means chasing after it and filling your life with all it can give you, you’re not serving God.
Jesus was calling for single-minded devotion and commitment—a tough call in our culture, which is short on commitment. The largest “cult” in our country is the cult of cultural Christianity. Cultural Christianity says Jesus came to be a part of your life. That’s false. Jesus never came to be a part
of our lives. Either He is our entire life (see Col. 3:4) or He has no part of our lives. We have to make a choice between those two, and that choice will be reflected in our relationship with money.
Money is an area where many of us have compromised instead of being fully committed to Christ. Why should this be so? The answer is fear. We’re afraid God won’t provide. Fully committing our finances to God is perhaps the toughest test of our faith that many of us will face. One passage God has used time and time again to grow my faith and help me to trust God with my finances is Psalm 37:25: “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”
Money and possessions are temporary. God is faithful, and He has promised to never abandon us. Let’s serve the One who has never let us down—and never will.
How can we work as a community
to stay focused on the things that last?
LIVE IT OUT
- Memorize. Commit Psalm 37:25 to memory. Let this verse strengthen your faith and drive out your fear, especially as it relates to your finances.
- Review. Take a look at your bank statement or purchase history for the past month. Use this information to make a list of your priorities and major concerns.
- Invest. One way to invest in God’s kingdom is through giving to your church. If you haven’t been giving, start this week. If you are giving, take the next step and begin giving one percent more of your income to God’s kingdom.
You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead by investing your earthly resources in heavenly treasures. Remember that truth, because your possessions will last for the blink of an eye. Your investment in God’s kingdom will last for eternity.
Teacher's Notes:
Teacher's Notes:
Andy Teaches Something About Money!
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Possessions don’t last.
Your relationship with God does.
Your relationship with God does.
Each year, a website called valuepenguin.com releases an analysis of the current state of credit card debt in the United States. As a country, we have $3.4 trillion dollars in outstanding debt, and $929 billion dollars in revolving debt. The average credit card debt per household is $5,700, ranging from $10K (for families with little to no income) to $6-7K for families with an average income, to $8K for the top percent of earners in the United States. This doesn’t take into account student debt or mortgage.
The human condition shows that — we are hardwired to want more than we can afford. We are so willing to acquire the things or activities we cannot buy on our own that we are willing to go into debt, mass amounts of it, in order to get those things.
Interestingly, money is the one area in life in which God asks us to test Him (see Malachi 3). When we do, we’ll find that He is more than faithful—He’s in complete control.
Why do you think God asks us to test Him with our finances?
Do you tend to be too loose with cash, or too tight with it?
What possession of yours would upset you most if you lost it?
If you could buy anything in the world, what would you buy?
A. Matthew 6:19-21 “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.
Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus laid out choices to be made by those who would follow Him.
What two kinds of treasure is a person called upon to choose?
- Treasures upon earth or treasures in heaven.
What is the wise choice and what is the reason?
- Treasures in heaven. Treasures upon earth are temporary. They lack permanence because they can be destroyed, or stolen. The things of God are eternal.
What did Jesus say was the downside of owning treasures? How can our treasures own us?
- We are physical beings living in a physical world. It’s only natural, then, that we fill our lives with physical things. We treasure our possessions, which, ironically, before long come to possess us. Jesus calls us to seek treasures that last beyond this physical life - treasures in heaven. We discover those treasures when we focus on God and follow Him.
How does knowing that God owns everything relieve some of the financial pressures we face?
What are treasures in heaven?
- Holiness of character.
- Obedience to all of God’s commandments.
- Souls won for Christ.
- Disciples nurtured in the faith.
- In this passage storing up treasures focuses on the compassionate use of material resources to meet others’ physical and spiritual needs.
- The tithe: One way we can invest in God’s kingdom is through giving to our local church. I believe in the tithe: giving ten percent of my money and resources to God (see Mal. 3:10). Some people say the tithe was a part of the Old Testament law, and therefore doesn’t apply to us today. It’s true that we now live under grace, but grace always goes beyond the letter of the law. I don’t approach tithing as some legalistic practice; instead, it’s my starting point for giving—for acknowledging that everything ultimately belongs to God. Unfortunately, the church as a whole is doing a poor job of giving our resources back to God. Depending on what research you read, the average Christian gives between 2.5 and 4 percent of what they earn. I believe many in the church are living in financial scarcity because of their decision to withhold their resources from God (see 2 Cor. 9:6). It doesn’t have to be that way. When we trust God with our finances and put Him first, we’ll be transformed in our possessions.
What life principle did Jesus teach concerning possessions and discipleship?
- Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also. What a person values the most will be the primary object of that person’s affection. Whatever we think about, have strongest feelings for, and focus most on; whatever we give time to; whatever we pour resources into, those are the things that we treasure the most. They become our treasure. We will be driven to invest ourselves in whatever is at the center of our being, that which is most important to us. Our attitude toward possessions becomes a measure of the depth of our discipleship.
What is the transforming point in these verses?
- To invest in eternal treasures.
B. Matthew 6:22-23 “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!
How good is your eyesight?
- According to the Vision Impact Institute, three out of four Americans need vision correction. And of that group, up to 41 percent don’t wear glasses or contacts on a regular basis—but they should. Let me state the obvious: life can be skewed, even dangerous, if it’s not in focus.
- That’s equally true if our spiritual focus is out of whack. Jesus spoke of the eye that is “healthy” (or “good”), borrowing from the Jewish idea that a good eye represented a generous attitude. By contrast, a bad eye was stingy and self-focused.
- In the modern world, a nearsighted attitude only considers how things affect me. It’s easy to base decisions on our own comfort or pleasure, even to the point where we lose focus on God’s kingdom. We need to remember these words from the apostle Paul: “As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
Several actions will help you maintain a clear focus, so that “your eye is healthy” and “your whole body will be full of light” (Matt. 6:22):
- Fix your eyes daily on Christ (see Heb. 12:2).
- Renew your mind daily through the Word (see Rom. 12:1-2).
- Confess any selfish pursuits, interests, or goals that cloud your vision (see Ps. 119:36-37).
- Invest in others and build up treasures in heaven (see Matt. 6:20-21).
Your spiritual vision is important. Do whatever it takes each day to keep your focus on Christ.
What two perspectives about wealth in particular and toward life in general are described in these verses?
- Good perspective – a good eye, one that is full of light.
- Bad perspective – a evil eye, one that is full of darkness.
- A true disciple living in the light of Christ will have a right perspective on the value of material wealth and possessions.
- The person with a right perspective on the value of material wealth will be marked by a spirit of generosity.
- The person who lives in darkness will be marked by a greedy and selfish spirit.
- Those who live in darkness face more and greater darkness.
What is Jesus’ point in using the eye as an analogy?
- Keep your focus clear.
What steps can you take this week to keep your focus on Christ?
What are the pitfalls of choosing to focus on material possessions?
- Wealth Is Dangerous. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." (NRSV, Mark 10:23-27)
- It is not that wealth is intrinsically evil, or that poverty is blessed. Rather, a devotion to gathering wealth is incompatible with devotion to God. God must always be the most important thing in our lives: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (NLT, Luke 16:13)
- The craving for wealth and possessions can lead us into all kinds of temptation. While we spend evenings and weekends earning extra money, we are depriving our families of our love and attention. We may take unfair advantage of our customers, employers, or employees. We may attempt to rationalize our greed by closing our minds and hearts to the needs and rights of others. In the process, we could end up being stingy, bitter and isolated.
- Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. (NIV, Proverbs 23:4-5)
- What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (NIV, Matthew 16:26)
- Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (TNIV, 1 Timothy 6:9-11, emphasis added)
C. Matthew 6:24 “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.
What was the social example Jesus used to teach about a disciple’s perspective on material possessions?
- No man can serve two masters. (slave and master) a person can live under the dictates of only one master – God or the world.
What are the two conflicting masters?
- Money and God.
What is Jesus’ point in verse 24?
- Be committed to God and God alone.
In what ways do believers today try to serve both God and money?
When have you obeyed God with your money even though it didn’t make sense?
How can regular tithing increase our trust in God?
Money and possessions are temporary. God is faithful, and He has promised to never abandon us. Let’s serve the One who has never let us down—and never will.
We all have things we treasure—possessions we value more highly than others do. It’s not easy to turn away from earthly possessions, especially in today’s culture. But it’s critical for followers of Christ to do so. In Matthew 6:1-8 and 16-18, Jesus emphasized that outward expressions of righteousness were to be driven by an inward condition of being in right relationship with God. Disciples do not give, pray, or fast for the applause of others, which will soon fade. Rather, they are driven by a deep, abiding, heart-felt devotion to the Lord and a desire to please Him. Followers of Jesus are focused on kingdom values not worldly values; the eternal not the temporal; God not self. Disciples give undivided allegiance to God. That is the emphasis of the verses for this session.
The common denominator in the sayings in Matthew 6:19-24 is Jesus’ call for total allegiance.
LIVE IT OUT
“Many perceptive observers have sensed that the greatest danger to Western Christianity is not, as is sometimes alleged, prevailing ideologies such as Marxism, Islam, the New Age movement or humanism but rather the all-pervasive materialism of our affluent culture.”
Few are unaffected by this threat. Whether poor or rich, most people want more than they have. The desire to have more is not evil within itself. The flaw is found in the person’s motivation.
In summary, what does the Bible say about managing money? The answer can be summarized with a single word—wisdom. We are to be wise with our money. We are to save money, but not hoard it. We are to spend money, but with discretion and control. We are to give back to the Lord, joyfully and sacrificially. We are to use our money to help others, but with discernment and the guidance of God’s Spirit. It is not wrong to be rich, but it is wrong to love money. It is not wrong to be poor, but it is wrong to waste money on trivial things. The Bible’s consistent message on managing money is to be wise.
Lord, I know the things of earth will dim and lose their value; therefore, I reaffirm my desire to live for Jesus and to invest my life in the things of heaven that will last for eternity. Amen.
In His Love,
David & Susan
Money and possessions are temporary. God is faithful, and He has promised to never abandon us. Let’s serve the One who has never let us down—and never will.
We all have things we treasure—possessions we value more highly than others do. It’s not easy to turn away from earthly possessions, especially in today’s culture. But it’s critical for followers of Christ to do so. In Matthew 6:1-8 and 16-18, Jesus emphasized that outward expressions of righteousness were to be driven by an inward condition of being in right relationship with God. Disciples do not give, pray, or fast for the applause of others, which will soon fade. Rather, they are driven by a deep, abiding, heart-felt devotion to the Lord and a desire to please Him. Followers of Jesus are focused on kingdom values not worldly values; the eternal not the temporal; God not self. Disciples give undivided allegiance to God. That is the emphasis of the verses for this session.
The common denominator in the sayings in Matthew 6:19-24 is Jesus’ call for total allegiance.
- A disciple of Jesus will choose to invest in heavenly treasures over earthly treasures. He or she will have a sound, healthy perspective on life that comes from living in the light of God’s revelation rather than a perspective marked by darkness, a symbol of Satan and evil. A disciple, as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, gladly serves the Lord God rather than being controlled by material possessions.
LIVE IT OUT
“Many perceptive observers have sensed that the greatest danger to Western Christianity is not, as is sometimes alleged, prevailing ideologies such as Marxism, Islam, the New Age movement or humanism but rather the all-pervasive materialism of our affluent culture.”
Few are unaffected by this threat. Whether poor or rich, most people want more than they have. The desire to have more is not evil within itself. The flaw is found in the person’s motivation.
- The flaw for the poor or the rich is wanting more because they are convinced that self-worth, meaning, purpose, pleasure, and security are connected to what one possesses.
- A true disciple of Jesus trusts God; he believes God will provide for his every need, even if in ways he least expects.
- Moreover, a true disciple is convinced that his value to God, the meaning of life, the purpose for being, the joy in living, and his ultimate security reside in exercising unwavering trust in God and His truth, not in the things of this age or this earth.
In summary, what does the Bible say about managing money? The answer can be summarized with a single word—wisdom. We are to be wise with our money. We are to save money, but not hoard it. We are to spend money, but with discretion and control. We are to give back to the Lord, joyfully and sacrificially. We are to use our money to help others, but with discernment and the guidance of God’s Spirit. It is not wrong to be rich, but it is wrong to love money. It is not wrong to be poor, but it is wrong to waste money on trivial things. The Bible’s consistent message on managing money is to be wise.
Prayer of Commitment
Lord, I know the things of earth will dim and lose their value; therefore, I reaffirm my desire to live for Jesus and to invest my life in the things of heaven that will last for eternity. Amen.
In His Love,
David & Susan
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