The four posts in this series were part of a church-wide devotional I wrote about wealth and money. The devotional was given out to aid the congregation through our church’s recent building campaign. It consisted of ten entries, each centered around Jesus’s teachings on money in Luke 12. These four were the main entries, written in a blog-article style format, which is why I post them here.
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Luke 12:34
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
This sentence summarizes Jesus’s teaching on money. As we’ve seen in these previous devotionals, Jesus cares about us not storing up riches just for ourselves like the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), and he cares about us not being anxious and instead trusting in our heavenly Father (Luke 12:22-33). But even more than these externals, Jesus cares about our hearts. He cares about what we love and treasure. When it comes to money (and everything else), Jesus knows that the heart is the heart of the matter.
Yet we must tread carefully here with this idea. Jesus does care supremely about our hearts, but we can’t use Jesus’s idea that “it’s mainly about the heart” to justify being like the rich fool. Nor can we be content with anxiety about money because we know in our hearts we love Jesus. We instead need to believe everything Jesus has said thus far about money. We must recognize that Jesus’s final statement here about the heart being the focal point doesn’t trump his other teachings, it bolsters and further explains them.
For example, why does the rich fool store up his wealth in barns? The answer is multilayered. On the surface, we might answer that he’s doing what makes sense when you have an abundance of crops. But then as we dig deeper (as we saw in the previous devotional), we learn that he’s doing this from a selfish desire for security, because he fears one day when he might not have enough and may need to access his barns. Yet we can dig even further than this. Why ultimately does the rich man hoard his crops? Jesus says it’s because that’s where his heart is.
The rich man’s heart doesn’t trust in God’s fatherly provision. Instead, the rich man’s heart is set on his wealth. His treasure is not God, his gospel, and his provision; it’s his own security and comfort. What is going on in this man’s heart is the source of the problem; his lamentable actions with his money are merely the result.
The same is true for those who are anxious about not having enough. Why do we get anxious about our lives, our bodies, where we’ll live, and what we’ll eat and drink? On the surface, we could just answer that these are common anxieties we all have because life is hard and uncertain. And this would be true, but what’s a deeper reason? Jesus says it’s a lack of understanding and trust in our sovereign heavenly Father. We lack this trust, and so we are anxious. But we can even go one step further. Why do we not trust our sovereign heavenly Father? Because our hearts are fixated on ourselves and our circumstances, attached to being in control and having it our way. It’s this heart-issue which leads us to disregard the reality and power and goodness of our God. In short, we fixate on ourselves and our own circumstances and don’t ultimately value and put God first—he isn’t our treasure; he isn’t where our heart is.
This is why Jesus’s statement “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” points us to the root issue of his teachings thus far about money. It’s not primarily hoarding money or untrusting anxiety we should look out for when we consider how we should use our wealth. It’s mainly our hearts we must look after.
Or to say it using Jesus’s other term, we must keep watch on what we treasure. If we treasure ourselves and our circumstances above God and his ways, it will lead us to misuse our money. Perhaps we’ll become more like the rich fool, or perhaps we’ll become very anxious (usually it’s a mixture of both), but either way, the ultimate issue isn’t the externals, it is: What do we treasure? This affects our hearts, which then affects our actions.
So ask yourself: What do I treasure? Do you see how what you value and esteem as most important not only affects your heart but also your actions? Jesus is spot on when he says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Becoming Joyful Treasurers of God
Yet we cannot stop there. For thus far only talked about the negative aspects of Jesus’s summative statement on money. It’s true that the rich fool and our anxiety stems from not valuing God and his ways above our own. But what then happens if, by God’s grace, we do begin to use our resources for his glory and kingdom rather than our own barn-building? What happens if we start to align our treasures with the ultimate Treasure?
Jesus says our hearts will follow. It’s an amazing statement. In other words, he’s saying that if we start to align ourselves with kingdom purposes—“sell your possessions, and give to the needy…”—then this will fuel our hearts to become more generous, joyful treasurers of God, his kingdom, and his ways. It begins with our living in line with our treasure in heaven rather than our fleeting treasures on earth, and it ends with us being enamored with God in our hearts. And isn’t that what we all desperately want?
Why does it work this way? Why do our hearts follow our money? Because, although money in itself isn’t sinful (as many like to quote, it isn’t money itself, but “the love of money” that is the root of all evil in 1 Timothy 6:10), money is still quite potent and powerful, often leading many astray. There’s a reason Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23). He never made a similar statement about those who are poor. Why? Because, yes money isn’t evil, but it is powerful; it is seductive; and so, many to fall in love with it, plunging them selves into destruction (1 Timothy 6:9-10).
Now, the answer to such a danger is not to flee or avoid money, but rather, as Jesus commends all throughout Luke 12, to use it accordingly.
- We don’t hoard; we give (Luke 12:13-21).
- We’re not anxious about it; we have faith in our sovereign God (Luke 12:22-28).
- We don’t live for money like the people of the world; we live for the kingdom and trust in our heavenly Father (Luke 12:29-31).
And as a result, we use our money for God’s eternal, better kingdom purposes.
Jesus knows that living this way makes the most sense, but moreover, it’s best for us and our hearts. So we heed Jesus’s call. We use our treasures for kingdom purposes—whatever that may be for us—and we trust in God’s provision.
As Paul said later,
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything got enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
This seems to be what Jesus means as he commands us to be “rich toward God.” We know what truly gives life. We know what treasure lasts forever. We know our more-satisfying King Jesus. May we use our money accordingly.
Ask yourself: What does this mean for me and my family? What do I treasure? How is this affecting my heart? What does Jesus want for me, and how is he leading me to follow him now?
Prayer: Jesus, I thank you that you care about me personally. You care about my heart. In all this talk about money and anxiety and faith, it’s refreshing for me to remember that you say all these things because you truly do love me and want what’s best for me. I ask now that you help me as I consider how I can use my resources more for your glory. If I decide to give, may I do so for your glory and your kingdom purposes. And in it all, help me to treasure you more and more. It’s in your name, I pray. Amen.
