Matthew 6:19-24 Treasure
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: February 8, 2019, Matthew 6:19-24
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
“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.
(Understanding the Text) This is a passage that clearly states that we are not to focus on gaining money, yet the followers of the prosperity preachers totally ignore these verses. Jesus is saying here not to value worldly treasure. He tells us that when we set our heart on the treasures of the world, we are not aiming high enough. Money is useless in heaven. He wants us to long for something beyond the present and to look to the future. Also, we live in fear here on earth when we prioritize wealth and material objects. They break; they wear out; they get lost; and there is always the chance that someone will come and take our stuff and our money from us. The very treasures that we value chain us to fear. In focusing on present fears and worries, we lose sight of God. In focusing on the possibilities of loss, we lose heaven itself.
When Jesus speaks of the eye being healthy, He is speaking about the eye as the part that focuses on what we want. I wonder if He was referring to the concept of the “jealous eye” that is still prevalent in the Middle East today? Was this part of the Jewish culture of His day? Jesus is saying here that if we focus our eyes with envy and desire on the treasures of the earth, it will permeate our whole being and darken our thinking. When our desires and goals lead to worldly treasures, they pull us away from heavenly ones. We begin to think in ways that are selfish and totally opposite of the ways of heaven.
Thus, a major reason to ignore worldly profit is that it is temporary and a waste of time since it will have no use for us in heaven. The second reason is that the desire for worldly profit will taint us to the point where we do not see light. We only see the darkness of sin rather than the hope and trust that comes from God. The final reason is that in the end, a love for money will draw us totally away from God, and we will simply reject the Master of the universe for junk.
(Revelation of God) The biggest problem with the prosperity preachers is that they lead people to lose sight of the greatest treasure of all. Jesus is our treasure. He is our security. Jesus heals us when we are broken. He has promised us our daily bread. With Jesus, there is no need to worry about money or clothes or friendship or family or food. He has promised that He will provide all of our needs and love us always. There is no greater treasure in all of this world than our Savior.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that I need to treasure Jesus. My focus should be on pleasing God. Money is irrelevant. People would correct me and say that money is a necessary evil, but in fact, if we trust God, money is not necessary. God fed the children of Israel with manna in the wilderness and fed Elijah using birds. Our pride might say that we want to be self-sufficient and make our own way, but even that is focusing my eye on darkness. I need to totally trust God to take care of me. I pray to place You first in my life and goals. I pray to treasure You and to know that You treasure me.