During the current coronavirus pandemic, some people have chosen to stockpile food, toilet paper, masks, and other things which they believe to be necessary and important for their survival.  Down over the years, people have also stockpiled items which they thought would someday be collectors’ items.  Recently, an individual decided to open a can of noodles which was 25 years old.  The can was a 15-ounce can of Spider-Man Pasta, and it was reduced to a rotted 3-ounce chunk.

        “Words from Above” tell us in Matthew 6 that Jesus spoke about what He called “treasures in heaven”.  He began by advising people to “lay not up for yourselves upon the earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.  There are many things that people often treasure in life, but all of them are subject to different kinds of corruption, and subject to being stolen.

        Jesus advised His audience instead to “lay up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”   Heaven is a place where everything is perfect and everything is also permanent, and nothing is subject to rust or corruption.  Many have raised an important question, however, about treasures in heaven, and that is, “How can we possibly do such a thing as lay them up in heaven?”

        We have all heard people say that when we leave this life, we cannot take anything with us, which is why funeral hearses do not ever have any U-Haul trailers being pulled behind them.  Ancient societies often believed that they could fill their tombs with the things they treasured in life, and they actually believed that this would prepare them for the afterlife.  But the ancient Jews believed that doing good deeds and serving the God of heaven in various ways, was the way that people could lay up treasures in heaven.  What this really means is that our treasures in heaven will be the rewards that we will receive for the good deeds and acts of service we do for the Lord.

        Of course, we need to understand that doing good deeds and service to the Lord do not earn us salvation, because it is “by grace that we are saved through faith”, as we are told by the Paul in Ephesians 2:8.  But once we are saved, then we begin to do good deeds and allow God to show us how we can serve Him in the work of His kingdom.  Jesus made it clear in Matthew 25 that doing good for others was the same as doing good for Him, and that’s what we need to do.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.