Messy House, Clean Heart: A 5(ish)-Day Reading Plan From Dana K. Whiteنموونە

Day 3: Store Up Treasures in Heaven

Read Matthew 6:19–21.

Have you ever had something stolen from you or ruined by mice? How did you feel when that happened to you?

How does this passage help you understand how heaven is different from earth?

Personal: What can you do today to begin storing up treasures in heaven?

One particular Bible passage I learned as a kid has always felt very understandable and straightforward to me: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin 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).

I’ve heard this verse referenced as a decluttering prescription, but let’s look at it in a different way. Stored stuff rots. That’s fact. A stack of boxes creates dark little hidey-holes for bugs and mice, just by existing alongside other stuff that isn’t being used. It’s happened to me, and I’ve received countless emails from others who’ve experienced the same thing.

When stuff gets ruined because it sits unused, I feel guilty. Getting the heebie-jeebies upon finding evidence of vermin, learning the hard way that there are bugs who eat old books . . . These experiences produce intense regret.

Chapters 4–7 of Matthew are called the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew is the first book in the New Testament, and this sermon was the first major teaching of Jesus he recorded. Jesus covered so many things in these red-letter words. He explained, He clarified, and He went deep. He went eternal. He began to shift His followers’ thinking from the things they had always known—aspects of life they could touch and feel and see—toward eternity.

The life application in Matthew 6:19–21 isn’t a condemnation for clutter. It’s a prescription for checking your heart and shifting your focus toward eternity. These verses cover one subject in a whole list of things Jesus addressed concerning the heart and its motivation. Just before this, He spoke about not praying for show, not fasting to make people think you’re amazingly disciplined and committed, not making a big deal about giving to the poor to make yourself look good.

Basically, He said to do everything for the right reason. And the right reason is always to glorify God and consider eternity, not to impress people.

Respond: What changes can you make this week to ensure your actions are motivated by the desire to glorify God and an understanding of what has eternal importance?

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for this reminder that the treasures I store up in heaven are the ones that will last forever, far beyond any stuff I have accumulated here on earth. Amen.