Does Jesus oppose earthly treasures?
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
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So when Jesus said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," does it mean that it is wrong for Christians to have earthly possession or save for the future? NO! The Bible even commends future savings and uses the example of the ant wisely working to gather food for the future (Proverbs 6:6-11).
Moreover, the Bible presents examples of rich godly men. Abraham was very wealthy and he was called a friend of God too (2 Chr. 20:7). Job would have been a billionaire in our days. He enjoyed the blessings of a good home, wonderful children, good health and large herds of oxen, donkeys and camels. He also had many employees and appeared to serve as a local judge or counsellor (Job 1:1-3). These biblical examples suggest that treasures are not necessarily evil in themselves.
Jesus was rather warning against placing our future and value on these treasures since they can tie us to the world and cause us to lose our eternal life. Moreover, these earthly treasures do not last. This is brought to light by Christ’s reference to moths, rust, and thieves. In bible times, wealth was stored and measured by how much literal commodities a person owned: garments, grain, and gold or precious metal. So Jesus was saying that, if we set our heart on garments, grains, and gold, we would lose them all. Our garments could be eaten by moths, our grain could be eaten by animals or insects, and our gold and precious metals could be taken by thieves or destroyed by rust.
The point is this: despite our moth balls, our rat poison, and our burglar alarms, none of our wealth is very safe. We can lose our life savings overnight. Wealth in the human realm is temporary. Hence, the need to recognize earthly treasures in that light, temporary and passing.