For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
— Matthew 6:21
Jesus is right in the middle of what is known as The Sermon on the Mount when he speaks these words about treasure. The surrounding verses are speaking about storing up treasures in heaven, and how it is impossible for someone to serve two masters. He goes on to say in verse 24 “…You cannot serve God and money.” Jesus knew that money was and always would be an issue to believers, something that could keep us from truly enjoying what it is that he has to offer for us.
“And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of Heaven?” — Luke 16:11
In this teaching, Jesus again goes to say in verse 13 “…You cannot serve God and money”. This recurring theme is not by accident. Jesus has called us to be good stewards of money, money that he has provided us with, money that we are called to be trustworthy with, money that God wants to bless us with. What we so often find ourselves doing is serving money more than we serve God.
As we give back to God what was never truly ours in the first place, we realize what a true blessing that it is to give and give freely. It can be a daunting task to look at how much money 10 percent of what we make can be, but the true blessing to others is when we are stretched to give more than we could imagine would ever be possible. The blessing comes through the act of blessing others with giving.
Jesus talked about money more than he talked about heaven and hell combined. Serving him and money both equally will never be possible, but life with him makes it possible to be true servants of the kingdom of God with all things, money included. Jesus knew that the easy part was finding salvation in him, that no works could make that possible, only a wonderful gift that God has given us through faith in him.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
— Ephesians 2:8–9
While we are all sinners in need of a savior, believing and trusting that Jesus died on the cross to cover your sins allows you to enjoy all the wonderful gifts he wants to entrust you with. The trust in giving back to God what is already his becomes a true blessing when we realize that none of this is because of our own doing. Trust in him and store up your treasures in heaven.