Matthew 6:19-24
Treasures are in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
John 10:1-10
The Good Shepherd Brings Us an Abundant Life
1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Matthew 22:36-40
The Two Greatest Commandments
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus went around Israel teaching us different things...These things were learned by His followers and disciples and His apostles...Jesus taught us about faith in God, and hope, and love in life...And He forever linked God and neighbor...Faith, hope, and love, and fellowship with friends are things that last forever...And when one truly has faith in God, hope in life, and love then they are happy...Without these things, life can feel empty...
Jesus tells us not to store up possessions on earth...What thing or source brings you the greatest happiness in your life...Moths and vermin can destroy the treasures on earth, and thieves can break in and steal those type of things...To find happiness, we should store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin cannot destroy them, and where thieves do not break in and steal them...For where our treasure's are, there your heart will be also...Treasures do not lie in material things, such as money and possessions...“The eye is the lamp of the body...If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of Light...But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness...If then the Light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!...“No one can serve two masters...Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other...You cannot serve both God and money...One cannot serve the material things you have and be happy, because there is always something else...This is pleasure and this pleasure with material things is only temporary...But for some reason, living on earth makes us want to treasure material things and accumulate them...
Jesus knew that material things might bring temporary happiness, but that is all...Material things when we get them only bring a fleeting type of pleasure...True happiness is not found in a material world...We learn from the Good Shepherd that happiness cannot ultimately be met in the material things of this world...Jesus tells us to look to Him to find true happiness...The answer lies in the eternal, the eternities that He taught...And what He taught was to have faith in and love God and to love our neighbor...These things give us a hope in life...There is something lacking in the material things to bring one to a permanent happiness and an abundant life...Happiness is not found on earth in a particular place, or a particular idea, or a particular material thing...But happiness is found instead in a Person...One who to my knowledge had little or no material things, nor any wealth, when He walked the earth...