Storing Treasures in Heaven

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

Here's a piece by Robert Morris (author of the excellent book The Blessed Life: The Simple Secret of Achieving Guaranteed Financial Results) called God's Stimulus Plan. He says that for Christians, God is our source of life, not the economy, not the government, and not our money.

You can click through on the link above and read the specifics you like since today I won't be covering most of it. Instead, I wanted to highlight what he says at the end of the article about eternal giving. His thoughts:

Perhaps you have an IRA—an Individual Retirement Account—or maybe some other form of retirement, such as social security. And that’s great. It’s good to save, make investments and be a good steward financially. But I wonder how many people have an ERA—an Eternal Retirement Account.

I know that I have more in my ERA than I have in my IRA ... a lot more. If I were to die tomorrow, I’m taken care of for eternity. I’ve made an investment the stock market can’t touch.

Do you realize the only stocks that haven’t lost any money over the last year are eternal stocks?

A good steward isn’t someone who stores everything up and leaves it all on earth when he dies. A good steward is someone who schedules as much ahead as he can—someone who gives to the kingdom, who invests in the kingdom.

What's he talking about? He's discussing "storing up treasures in heaven," which is covered many places in the Bible. A few examples:

• Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

• Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

• Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:33-34

• Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Luke 14:12-14

And for those wondering, no, the rich can't "buy a better place in heaven." Treasures in heaven are on a sliding scale based on how much you have:

• For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. 2 Cor 8:12

Side note: I'm not going to go into the eternal rewards versus salvation and endless issues associated with the confusion of the two. But for those of you interested, here are some pieces I found that you may want to check out: Salvation and Eternal Rewards, Motivated by Eternal Reward?, and Assurance of Eternal Rewards.

For today, I'm wondering if anyone out there looks at their giving this way -- not as giving money away and losing it but as investing it in (or transferring it to, if you prefer) eternity through giving (big difference.) This is the way my wife and I view our giving -- that we're not losing it, but simply investing/saving it for heaven (not to mention the earthly gains we get -- which we've discussed here previously.)

Comments

[Concojones]

Quote FMF: "[we view our giving as] investing/saving it for heaven (not to mention the earthly gains we get -- which we've discussed here previously.)"

If I'm reading you correctly, you're talking about giving in this life to be rewarded in the next, heaven. Although I consider myself Christian (the free-thinking kind), I've never looked at it this way. The way I see it is that what you call heavenly and earthly rewards are in fact one and the same thing. When Jesus says "my father will reward you" he is referring to the satisfaction that comes from doing well for other people. Why he didn't say so in plain English: nobody would have bought it. Now that I think about it, he probably did use that plain English, but his successors rephrazed it to make it catch. As a marketing exec, FMF will understand that. ;-)

Back to topic: I do believe that giving gives more satisfaction than spending. I don't mean giving to a large anonymous organization, I mean giving in a way that you see you've made a difference in someone's life.

[Darin H]

I do love how every week we get commenters that love to think the worst of you, FMF, specifically and Christians in general (apparently the non free-thinking kind). Feel the love!

:)

[FMF]

Darin --

Yeah, that's what makes these posts "fun". :-)

[Concojones]

Ouch!

So this is the "fun" of The Bible And Money. Okay, so now I have experienced it, too :-)

For the record: I'm all for The Bible And Money. I love different angles. Actually, I had hoped to see some real comments here. Later perhaps?

[FMF]

Concojones --

I wasn't talking about your comment, just to be clear. :-)

We'll see on the comments later. My guess is that many people were out enjoying the last parts of summer this weekend (and will be the next few as well.) Things (and comments) will likely pick up in September once we all get back from vacation. ;-)

[Daniel]

ERA? Serious? One things I always notice is these Sunday 'The Bible and Money' rarely... if ever, give reasonable advice about money and finances. It is merely based on Morals and Christian teachings. So I usually read the Sunday posts for some facepalms...

But regardless, to express your faith and mix it with your love of finances, I have to give respects. Even if its teachings based off of a book written over 1000 years ago, translated 2389572895 times, and written in storybook form.

[FMF]

...and score! We have a winner!!!!!!!!

[Sarah]

Aren't you a little concerned that God may regard charity given out of expectation of reward, as opposed to love of God and your fellow human, to be not charity at all?

I don't believe that pure altruism is a state of mind attainable by many humans for any length of time, but surely that is what we should be aiming at?

[FMF]

Sarah --

I understand what you're saying and must admit that it's not a simple issue to explain clearly. I believe that we should give with open hearts to show our love to God and others. And I also believe that God rewards those who do so. How those two work together may remain a mystery in this life.

[Ross]

Give me money, give me green,
and heaven you will meet.
Make a contribution
and you'll get a better seat.

[Ron C. Mitchell]

I do the right thing, I pray for help! I love my family, My family loves me! We Don't have the money to help people, But we help people in many other ways.
I thank God for All that He's done! I got sick and can't work, now we are losing our home to only $7,000
in taxes. We have not got help at all, We pray together all the time and not one church or Godly person helped us at all! We are willing to pay you back over time. IS THERE HELP OUT THERE!! please help us. Thank you for the blessing! with Love [email protected] Believe me We are thankful for All God's Helpers