TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21
Read: Matthew 6:21
Listen: Matthew 6
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus often taught about money and possessions. In one teaching, he urges his followers to not store up treasures on earth because they are temporary and subject to being broken or stolen. He teaches instead to store up treasures in heaven where they are permanent. Then he warns, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). How we handle our finances and our stuff reflects what our heart is like. They reveal what we love.
Standards of “normal” spending change over time. Pastor Jeff Manion shared how an average family’s home in the 1950s was just 983 square feet. In 2018, the average American home was nearly two-and-a-half times the size at 2,436 square feet. Society’s standards shift over time, and we may not even notice.
Changing our normal financial patterns to reflect God’s standards rather than society’s will involve new habits. The good news is we get to choose—and we can start today. With God’s help, we can place our treasure and our heart on things that make eternal impact, draw others to God and bring him honor.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Spend time thinking through your habits in saving, giving and spending. Commit to God to choose better habits or to strengthen the healthy habits you’ve already developed in these areas. “God, thank you that I don’t develop new habits alone. Please fill me with your strength day-by-day to choose to follow you in all areas of my life, including how I handle my money.”
NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN
Join us this year as we read through the New Testament.
Today’s reading is Matthew 15.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
