Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Matthew 6:19–20 (NIV)

Jesus teaches an extended sermon on a hillside overlooking Galilee, delivering weighty truths, including this: One of the biggest traps in life is for us to be ensnared by attachments.

We can cling so tightly to possessions, achievements, and even people that they become heavy chains around the neck that bind us to endless suffering. Jesus knows exactly who He is speaking to: people whose wealth was stored in garments, metals, or grain. But textiles are vulnerable to moths, metals are susceptible to rust and corrosion, and grain is subject to theft.

Jesus’s message is clear: Don’t become too attached to these things. Valuable though they may be, you can’t build your treasure with them. Anything you have to bury, hide, or protect with anxiety is too fragile to sustain your soul. “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” Written in the present imperative, it carries this meaning: “I know you are already doing it.”

Then comes the invitation that frees the heart: “Store up treasure in heaven where there can be no theft, no rust, no corrosion.” This treasure accumulates wealth in the heart, the mind, and the soul.

Child of God, your material losses don’t have to be your spiritual losses. Jesus is calling you to resist the pull of a possession-crazed culture and instead model a new ethic, a new law that is evangelistic to those needing to know that the Lord can help break unhealthy attachments.

Here is the truth that reaches into our everyday lives: Don’t be attached to anything that becomes more valuable to you than your relationship with Jesus. Some things you have to hold lightly.