[1]NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Bible Studies For Life curriculum.
Bible Passage: Matthew 6:19-24
Discussion Questions: What are your most valuable possessions? How do we go about collecting treasures in heaven? When have you felt the tension of trying to serve two masters?
Food for Thought:
We are physical beings, and we live in a physical world. It’s natural, then, that we fill our lives with physical objects. We seek to possess things, but those things have a way of possessing us. Jesus calls us to seek a different type of treasure: treasures that last beyond this physical life. When we focus on God and follow Him, we find and invest in far greater treasures.
[2]How we handle our money reveals who and what has control over our hearts and minds. Earthly things just don’t last. Moth, rust, thieves or even our lack of contentment reveal the temporary nature of our earthly treasures. But some treasures do last.
Jesus said when we value eternal things, we send them ahead of us. We can live here and now, accumulating possessions that will eventually end up in a garage sale, or we can be involved in something that really matters for eternity. Let’s use our resources and possessions for Kingdom purposes, and in so doing we can “collect for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
We do not own anything; we are merely managing what God has blessed us with. We make a better investment — an eternal investment — when we use these possessions for God’s Kingdom work. What we focus on is ultimately what we serve.
In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus called for single-minded devotion and commitment, a tough call in our culture short on commitment. The largest “cult” in our country is the cult of cultural Christianity. Cultural Christianity says Jesus came to be a part of your life. Jesus never came to be a part of our lives. Either He is our life (Colossians 3:4), or He has no part of our lives. When we are all in and Jesus is our life, it will be reflected in our relationship to money.
Bible Studies For Life
Bible Studies for Life connects the Bible to life for adults, students, and kids. Bible Studies for Life helps individuals and groups know God’s Word through trustworthy content, creates biblical community through engaging and conversational group studies, and helps people engage the culture missionally by unpacking what the Bible says about real-life issues. More information can be found on the Internet at LifeWay.com/BibleStudiesforLife [3].
Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool [4].