First Baptist Church

I have found that most people like to keep the hope of Heaven in the back of their minds, especially as they get older. After all, as we look into the mirror we see increasingly, gray hair and wrinkles. Slowly over time it begins to sink in that we are not going to live forever, however that day is always way off in the future somewhere. What we really secretly long for is that a fountain of youth might be found which would allow us to either live forever or at least extend our time right here. Heaven then is far less of a joyful, expectant, and longed for home than it is a sort of plan “B” for us if that fountain of youth is never found.

We can go days, weeks, even months without giving serious thought to Heaven, even though our theology says we are going to spend all of eternity there with the Lord. The truth is that most only choose Heaven because they are caught somewhere in the middle between wanting to stay here on earth forever but not being able to, and Heaven sounding much better than Hell. With that in mind, is it any wonder people are not really laying up for themselves treasures in Heaven like Jesus taught? If we are not even thinking about Heaven, it is sure-fire reality that we are not actively laying up treasure there. Instead we continue to foolishly accumulate this world’s goods.

We are strangely laid back and casual when it comes to our preparations for Heaven, but noticeably anxious when making preparations for retirement, a major purchase, or deciding what to do with our inheritance or tax refund check. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism said, “The last part of a man to be converted is his wallet.” Jesus taught of a Rich Fool in Luke 12:16-21 as he said, “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.’ And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Jesus also taught of a certain Rich man in Luke 16:19-31 who “fared sumptuously” yet when he died he went to be in torment in the flames of Hades, while the poor beggar Lazarus, who begged at his gate went to “Abraham’s bosom.” Suddenly the rich man’s priorities were polar opposites of what they had been while he was still alive on earth. In one instant of time everything he valued was worthless and the things he had accounted as worthless, while here, were suddenly the most valuable items in existence. One day my friends that will be the case for each and every human being.

In Mat. 6:21, Jesus makes it clear that there is an unmistakable parallel between one’s heart and their treasure (money or anything else). Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Tim. 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” I wonder why we are not giving God the minimum he requires all the while we are driving around in nice cars, have nice well-furnished homes, we eat very well, take nice vacations, and yet are only giving God a very little or perhaps nothing at all. Could it be that you are not laying up treasure in Heaven but right here on earth? God does not need fence straddlers. He instead needs people to get off the fence and get solidly on his side.

The reason we are not laying up treasure in heaven is quite simple. It is that many of us really don’t believe in heaven. We hope for it, we say we believe in it, our theology is correct concerning it, we think about how great it would/could be, but many clearly do not believe because their actions betray them. No one is fooling God, so why would it make one tiny bit of difference that we fool anybody else? God does desire us to be “Heaven-minded,” and not “earth-minded.” How do we do that? We need to wake up out of the trance this world has us in. This world is so complex and operates so smoothly, it is easy for mankind to drift into a lull. It is not unlike being drugged. Satan has spiritually drugged us to the point we are largely ineffective and irrelevant. Do not let Satan keep winning the victory my friends. It is time to wake up!

In Christ,

Pastor Allen Raynor