Matthew 6:19-21 – Far More Life

What Do You Love?

Love is complicated, they say. I agree, but maybe not for the reasons most people who use this phrase would expect.

One reason love seems complicated is because we overuse the word. Love — or the red heart that commonly represents it — is used to promote tourist attractions, products, brands, breeds of pets, and much more. Social media encourages us to love what others share. And numerous emojis include hearts to relay a variety of love messages via texting. But do we really love all these things? Are you as committed to your favorite vacation destination as you are to your family? Is the love you express to your pet the same love you express to a brand of vehicle? Does loving someone’s picture on social media mean the same thing as loving the person who posted it? Are any of these the same love we have for God or He has for us?

God is the originator of love, the prime example of love, and has a lot to say about it. The Bible provides many historical accounts, poetic expressions, letters, and prophecies describing His love. He put His love for us into action by sending His Son to take the punishment we deserve for sinning against Him. So it is no surprise that He speaks authoritatively in His instruction for how we, His children, should and should not love. Here is a warning He gives us:

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (I John 2:15-17, NLT)

Do not love the world. The Greek word translated love is agapao. It means to long for or esteem. It is a love of choice, selection, and reason that leads to taking pleasure in the thing or person you love. So God is telling us that far more life does not long for this world. It does not prioritize the values of this world above the values of God. It does not choose to take pleasure in pursuits or activities that are contrary to what God has instructed. The same word is used in other passages to tells us who and how to love:

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. (Luke 6:35, NIV)
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34, NIV)

Do not love what the world offers you: craving for physical pleasure. There are many things in this world that we can love for the physical pleasure they produce. Food. Nicotine. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Experiences and activities that raise our endorphins. We forfeit far more life when we place more value in obtaining these pleasures than in living for God. We miss out on true love when we choose them over righteousness. Instead of craving physical pleasure from the world, God gives these instructions:

Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-2, NIV)
…Live then as children of the light. The light produces in men…everything that is wholesome and good and true. Let your lives be living proofs of the things which please God. (Ephesians 5:8-10, PHILLIPS)

Do not love what the world offers: craving for everything we see. Living in the information era, we see more of the world than any previous generation. This can cause us to develop a sinful longing for the best lifestyles, experiences, power, and influence the world has to offer. But Paul’s prayer for the saints in Ephesus describes the cravings of far more life:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19, NIV)

Do not love what the world offers: pride in our achievements. Most people I have talked to about heaven believe they will spend eternity there because of the good things they have done. They value achievements and believe theirs have earned God’s favor. But God offers far more life to those who achieve one thing:

The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. (John 6:29, NIV)

Do not love what the world offers: pride in our possessions. We miss far more life when we love our possessions more than we love God and people. When our life goal is acquiring that car, house, “toy”, or material item, then that possession is what we love and value most. Far more life takes pride in heavenly treasures instead:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, NIV)

Love does not have to be complicated. When we long for God, when we choose to put Him first, when we adopt His values, we can share His love and enjoy far more life.

Sisters,
How do you overuse or minimize the word love?
In what ways are you tempted to love — value, long for, or choose — the world over God?
How do you love craving pleasure or what you see more than God?
How do you love taking pride in your achievements or possessions more than God?
Ask God to help you love Him most and experience the blessing of far more life.
-Shari

Seeing the Unseen

Our outlook makes a big difference in how we interpret things happening to and around us. You may have heard the joke about the two children who received horse manure for Christmas: one was depressed and angry while the other eagerly exclaimed, “You got me a pony!”

If we are honest, we encounter some form of “manure” every day of our lives. This can include our physical health, finances, relationships, jobs, or any other negative circumstance. Some of us tend to be more optimistic, others more pessimistic; but those are not the only viewpoints to consider. We must also choose whether to view our lives with temporary or eternal vision. The Apostle Paul states it this way:

And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, GNT)

While we are enduring them, our troubles often feel large rather than small and long-term rather than temporary. But that indicates we are relying on our temporal vision. Using eternal vision, we can see that our 78 or so years on this earth are merely a blip of eternity. And the worst difficulty we face in this life is insignificant compared to the splendor of being with God and removed from all evil forever. Far more life does not protect us from trouble, but it does allow us to see the unseen.

It makes sense that our vision gets stuck on the temporary. After all, that is all we have ever known! The matters of physical life loom large for us because our senses are attuned to them. But what if our goals were bigger than comfort, physical health, and security on Earth? What if we stopped to consider what our thoughts and actions truly indicated about our understanding of God and His perspective? That is where we find far more life by seeing the unseen!

Ask yourself these questions:

When I face troubles does my response show that I believe God is working for my good, as promised in Romans 8:28?
When I encounter difficulties, do I focus on them or Jesus? Like Peter in Matthew 14, do the winds and waves distract me from Jesus’ presence and power?
Do I, like Joseph in Genesis 50:20, proclaim that God’s goodness is more powerful than the evil intentions of Satan and people? Do I live this out during the challenge?
Do my reactions indicate that I treasure current relationships, possessions, and status more than I treasure God’s purpose and plans (Matthew 6:19-21)?

Our answers help us understand areas where we have opportunities to see the unseen and grow in far more life. But how do we do that? I think there are 3 components to a far more life relationship with God that has eternal vision: listening to God, talking to God, and looking for God.

Far more life listens to God. When you are getting to know someone, you want to learn about them and that often involves listening to them. We listen to what they think and feel, what they have experienced, and what is important to them, and their future plans. By listening to what they say and how they say it we learn about their character, too. If what we hear is appealing to us, we keep listening! The same is true with God. Although we cannot meet Him for coffee, we can listen to Him speak through His Word. As we study it, we can learn about His character and hear His thoughts, feelings, experiences, priorities, past experiences, and future plans. Even though we cannot see His body or audibly hear His voice, we can understand and adopt His eternal vision — seeing the unseen — as we listen to Him. He promises:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13, NIV)

Far more life talks to God. We all know that growing relationships require on-going communication. This is true of our relationship with God as well. We can talk to Him about ANYTHING! Nothing we share will shock Him or damage our relationship; He will never think less of us, no matter what we confess to Him. He will never betray us by revealing our concerns or sins to others. He is never put off by our doubts, questions, or fears. He can absorb our anger without lashing back. He wants us to share our hopes and dreams with Him. Sometimes He waits to give us good gifts until we ask for them. Eternal vision requires that we talk to God about everything.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer… (I Peter 3:12, NIV)

Far more life looks for God. Since God is working all the time (John 5:17), His work is visible to us if we look for it. People who do not know God refer to His work as luck, coincidence, fate, Mother Nature, and more, but God’s friends recognize His work! To stay focused on the eternal and see the unseen, we must look for and acknowledge His work, both in and around us.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8, NIV)
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20, NIV)

I hope you look at your troubles and successes, challenges and triumphs with eternal vision. Because that is where you see the unseen and find far more life!

Sisters,
Prayerfully consider and answer the questions presented in the text.
Is your eternal vision weakest in listening to God, talking to Him, or looking for Him? What is your next step in seeing the unseen?
Invest in your eternal vision this week by pursuing far more life!
-Shari

Time to Invest

We all have 60 minutes each hour. 24 hours each day. 7 days each week. 52 weeks each year. We can invest our time wisely and reap huge dividends, both now and in heaven. Or we can spend it on pursuits that yield a temporary thrill at most. One choice lets us survive while the other helps us sustain far more life.

So be very careful how you live, not being like those with no understanding, but live honorably with true wisdom, for we are living in evil times. Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes. (Ephesians 5:15-16, TPT)

People who spend their lives for God’s purposes do more than accumulate possessions and experiences during their time on earth. They understand their God-given purpose and mission is to love Him and share His love with others. Investing in God’s work may not generate instant results, but it does produce eternal rewards. The far more life we find as we take full advantage of each day reminds us that our hope rests in Heaven, not immediate gratification on earth.

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. (Colossians 3:23-24, NASB)

Whatever you do. Life is not a collection of spiritual and non-spiritual activities. When the Holy Spirit lives inside us, everything we do is a spiritual activity. We can work for God, regardless of our job. We can recreate or rest for God. We can learn and grow for God. We can give and serve for God. We can also do each of these activities without God. The choice is ours; will we choose life or far more life?

It takes more than just showing up to maximize our eternal yield and walk in far more life each day. The heart behind our investment is a key factor in the yield. Mundane tasks — like laundry and changing diapers — can be more profitable than leading a Bible study; it depends whether we are simply doing the “right” thing with an empty heart or “taking full advantage” of opportunities to love God and others. We take full advantage by remembering His instructions:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, ESV).

Acquiring earthly treasures — belongings, experiences, even relationships — can bring us temporary pleasure. But investing our heart and time in God’s purposes leads to far more life and treasure that will last for eternity! We do not always understand the impact of our investment, but God is orchestrating the efforts of many individuals to accomplish His will.

The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. (I Corinthians 3:8, NLT)

Investing in God’s work of planting and watering spiritual seeds can take more than our time; it can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. We know there will be an eventual payoff, but we can still grow weary from our labor. How do we maintain far more life in those conditions?

A wise friend once shared an “energy equation” that has been helpful to me. She explained that we all experience three types of interactions/activities: those that energize us (+3); those that are neutral, neither adding nor taking energy (0); and those that draw more energy than they give back (-3). If we are regularly in the hole, we are guaranteed to burn out and miss far more life. To be healthy, the sum of these interactions must consistently be zero or above. To experience far more life and have all we need to invest in God’s kingdom, we need a positive balance.

When my energy equation is below zero I often read or play mindless computer games to “rest”. But while my brain is distracted by those pursuits, I remain tired and reluctant to re-engage. Since they are not refreshing, those activities are probably a 0 rather than the +3 that I need. But if I invest the same amount of time exercising, meditating on God’s Word, writing, or napping, I find myself energized and ready to re-engage. Rather than “unplugging” by retreating into a virtual world, I am learning to ask myself, “What do I need right now to truly energize my body and spirit?”

As you look at your calendar and commitments, be intentional about your time investments. Prayerfully consider what you have to give each day and the refreshment you need to live far more life with a God-pleasing heart. Allowing time for connecting with God, eating healthy food, exercising, laughing, and sleeping is important for sustaining far more life. Remembering to include those in your daily energy equation will enable you to consistently join God in investing in His kingdom…people. Those are the only investments that will continue paying dividends for eternity!

Sisters,
Is most of your time spent or invested? Are you consistently experiencing far more life?
Are your treasures primarily on earth or in heaven?
What is your energy equation right now? What will truly energize your body and spirit?
Pursue far more life today as you invest in God’s kingdom!
-Shari