“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17)
Missionary and martyr, Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” However, the thing that hinders us most from expressing Christ’s love to others is our attachment to things we cannot keep. No matter how many material possessions we’ve accumulated by the time we die, none of them will follow us into eternity. But, we can store up treasures in heaven ahead of our arrival (Mt. 6:19-21).
Storing treasures in heaven comes as a result of tangibly expressing God’s love to brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need. In the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30), servants who invested their master’s money were richly rewarded. The servant who did not invest his master’s money for fear of losing it lost it anyway. He also lost any reward he could’ve received. The master’s issue with him wasn’t the waste of money. It was the waste of potential.
God has deposited His love into us. We invest His love by giving materially to help fellow believers in material need. When we do so, we gain treasures in heaven. Once stored in heaven, we will never lose them. When we don’t invest God’s love into others, we don’t store any treasure in heaven. Worse, we waste our potential. All because we’re afraid of losing material possessions we can’t keep anyway.
Investing God’s love into others gains us treasures in heaven. Burying it wastes our potential and God’s deposit in us. So, brothers and sisters, let’s not be fools. Let’s be diligent to give what we cannot keep to gain that which we can never lose.
© Paul R Downing
