The Treasure PrincipleSample

Send It on Ahead

Jesus takes that profound truth, “You can’t take it with you,” and adds a stunning qualification. By telling us to store up treasures for ourselves in Heaven, He gives us a remarkable corollary: You can’t take it with you—but you can send it on ahead.

Anything we try to hang on to here will be lost. But anything we put into God’s hands will be ours for eternity. If that doesn’t take your breath away, you don’t understand it! 

If we invest in the eternal instead of in the temporal, we store up treasures in Heaven that will never stop paying dividends. Whatever treasures we store up on Earth will be left behind when we leave. Whatever treasures we store up in Heaven will be waiting for us when we arrive. 

Financial planners tell us, “When it comes to your money, think thirty years ahead, not three months or three years.” Christ, the ultimate investment counselor, takes it further. He says, “Don’t ask how your investment will be paying off in just thirty years. Ask how it will be paying off in thirty million years.” 

Suppose I offer you one thousand dollars today to spend however you want. Then suppose I give you a choice—you can either have that one thousand dollars today or you can have ten million dollars one year from now, then ten million more every year after that. Only a fool would take the thousand dollars today! Yet that’s what we do whenever we grab onto something that will last for only a moment. 

Of course, there are many good things God wants us to do with money that don’t involve giving. It is essential, for instance, that we provide for our family’s basic material needs (1 Timothy 5:8). But these good things are only a beginning. The money God entrusts to us is eternal investment capital. Every day is an opportunity to buy up more shares in His kingdom. 

You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. 

If you embrace this revolutionary concept, it will change your life. As you store up treasures in Heaven, you’ll gain both an immediate and an everlasting version of what that man found in the hidden treasure. 

Joy! 

How would you evaluate your giving habits over the past twelve months? What is the number one reason you aren’t giving away more money?