The First National Bank of Heaven

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Heaven”

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The First National Bank of Heaven”

I once heard a story about a father who wanted to teach his children a lesson about properly determining the real value of things. They lived in a nice house that they all loved; it was filled with lots of nice furniture, clothes, and toys; and they had a couple of dependable family vehicles. They had a nice life filled with nice things, and they all enjoyed it very much.

One day the father and the children piled into the car and he drove to an old neighborhood filled with abandoned homes. They parked in front of one such home and the father had the children discuss the families that may have lived in the home over the years. They imagined how nice the home had probably been at one time and how happy the family was to have had it. Then they drove to an automobile junk yard and gazed at all the junked cars and trucks. Again, they speculated on how nice those vehicles had once been and how much the owners might have enjoyed them. Then they went to the county landfill and gazed out upon the mountains of trash and garbage and junk. They saw old couches, and washing machines, and broken toys, and countless other items that had at one time been nice and new but which were now broken junk.

Then the father taught his children Jesus’ lesson from Matthew 6:19-21. Overtime, all the things of this world will get old, they will deteriorate, and ultimately, they will be nothing but junk. Physical things don’t last. But God is eternal, and heaven is eternal, and people – as spirit-beings, are also eternal.

When Jesus told us to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven, He was talking about rewards in heaven that we will receive based on how we conducted ourselves in this lifetime. He was teaching that there are things we can do now that will reap eternal rewards for us then. Every time we take an action that blesses God or other people, and which therefore has eternal value, it is noted by God. And according to Jesus in this parable, there will be some eternal benefit for us then because of what we did now. What exactly will those eternal benefits look like? He didn’t say. He simply said that there would be some.

Essentially, Jesus was teaching that you have an eternal bank account in the First National Bank of Heaven. Every time you do something of eternal value in this lifetime, a deposit is made in your account in heaven. Interest will accrue and the day will come when you get to draw on those eternal rewards. Again, what form those treasures in heaven will take we don’t know. Jesus didn’t say. But we do know that He would not have taught this parable and He would not have used this illustration of treasure in heaven that is accruing on our behalf now, if it were not so.

All of your discipleship activities; all of your service to others; all of your generosity for the sake of the kingdom of God; it all matters. All of it is noted, all of it makes a difference, and all of it will be rewarded. You have an account in your name in the First National Bank of Heaven.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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