Credit rating in terms of "Treasure in Heaven"

Free Credit Report!! While you know your credit rating according to all the financial world is pristine, is there such a rating in God's eyes? If there is, how can we find out what it is? If there's a credit problem, how can we improve? When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, the subject of money came up more than once. Although Matthew 6:19-24 speaks of money, it's not talking about the kind you can get a rating on by signing up for an advertisement. It's about your heaven's credit!

v19-21 talks about storing up treasure in heaven instead of on earth. But it is really about deciding where to put our heart. The reward we get for picking a random church ministry to serve in will not be "treasure" in God's eye. This means two people doing the same job, getting the same earthly reward may not get the same heavenly reward if one of them is not doing what he/she is called. What is a God-called ministry and what is just church work? Although in man's eyes, what needs to be done has to be done. It doesn't matter who does it and how it get done. In God's eyes, it's night & day! What needs to be done is only a perception that man put on God's work. God makes personal invitations to the specific ministries for each Christian to pursue. Following this calling is the only way to get brownie points in heaven's treasure chest.

v22-23 talks about having "good" eyes so our bodies will be full of light. "Bad" eyes will result in darkness. We can be sure whatever is making our eyes "bad", we better steer clear of that path! But what does "bad" eyes mean? Blindness? Cataracts? Protein buildup on our contact lens? Jesus used eyes as a lamp to symbolize spiritual sight or insight. When we see the light, our lives can be used as instruments to bring spiritual insights to others. But what does "the light within you is darkness" means? Since darkness is the result of the absence of light, this means Jesus was talking about Christians living without insight of what to do or what to say. Serve in a way that will illuminate the path for others to take or follow. If not, we're all just wandering in the dark! More importantly, when we follow God's call to ministry, rather than man's call to fill a desperate need of the church, our light will shine so much brighter, last longer and puts credit into our heaven's account.

When the third section (v23-24) is combined with the common known verse "Money is a root of all evil"[1], it gives some extremists cause to abandon all associations with money and live off of others' wealth without displaying a hint of accumulation of their own. Although the passage seems to suggest money is the opposite of God and ask people to choose between God and money, it's not. It seems to ask people to focus on one god or the other (like the verse "Choose you this day whom you will serve! For me and my house, we will serve the LORD!")[2], it's more than that. Among many facets of Jesus' lesson, this passage is also talking about the expectation of reward for the work we do for God. The compensation for the work we do now on earth will either be credited in heaven's treasure chest or given to us on earth in forms of blessings. When serving God, we should expect all our rewards for our work credit our heaven's account, not just only enjoyed here on earth. We serve God, not as an employee of God's Kingdom where we expect just compensation, but as a bond servant & slave where no earthy compensation in forms of material nor spiritual are expected. Yes, not even spiritual benefits like deeper spiritual knowledge, more spiritual highs, not even deeper spiritual fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. All these are blessings we get from our Father as His children regardless if we serve Him or not. There should not be an association of "work for pay" between the two. To me, that's choosing between God and Money.

As soon as these words came out of Jesus' lips, there must be loud grumblings from the crowd regarding where to get money to pay for living expenses. That's why the following passage talks about worrying about our daily sustenance.[3] When God provides, he provides us with more than just barely enough to survive. He is abundant and overly gracious in His blessings.

Between talking about fasting and worrying, the spiritual lesson from Jesus is: choose to do things to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Our focus for living is to be on God's work that's recognized by Him, not to seek or expect earthly compensation like money, power, nor fame. Even spiritual blessings should not be expected as our reward. Otherwise, they are no long blessings, but payments. And we can never do enough to deserve all the blessings we get, that's why it's called grace. Even if we did, our reward would be so puny that we wouldn't call it a blessing, which is the fair compensation for how much we really do for the eternal kingdom. Good thing God doesn't pay us for what we do or not do... that's what we call mercy! Jesus preached these three seemingly different topics together for a reason, it is to align our mindset with God's mindset. What is considered "good and faith service" from man's point of view is often different than God's. While God will reward us for trying our best, He also wants us to be effective and efficient. Assuming our relationship is right with the LORD, it comes down to doing the things that matter to God, rather than man.

The bottom line on how to build up, improve, or repair our heaven's credit rating is: pray for Holy Spirit's guidance on the specific ministry God has called you without any consideration of returns. Absolutely no expectation of compensation can be made, even it's in a form of spiritual gifts and blessings. Your motive, attitude and intentions must be pure. Otherwise, you're just looking for a job... with great benefits. And we call that work.

1. 1 Timothy 6:10
2. Joshua 24:14-15
3. Matthew 6:25-34

Created over 2 years ago