[SUP][SUP]Matthew 6:20 [/SUP]But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Luke 6:35 [/SUP]But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
What treasures? What reward? What are they?
There's a story about a man who was a very godly man, but also a very rich man. He was also a very thrifty man and did not like the idea of everything he had accumulated on earth being lost when he died, so he prayed long and hard to be allowed to take something to Heaven with him when he died. Finally God told him he would be allowed to take one suitcase with him to Heaven. (Yes I know this goes directly against what the Bible says, but I'm going somewhere with this. Just bear with me a moment.)
So this rich man got a suitcase, filled it with pure gold bars and left it beside his bed. In time the rich man died and he found himself at St. Peter's check-in desk lugging his heavy suitcase. Peter had some natural questions about the suitcase, as it went directly against the rules, but the rich man insisted God Himself said he could bring it. Peter checked and reported back that orders from above were the man could indeed bring the suitcase in, "but as a security matter I must inspect the suitcase first." Peter opened the suitcase, picked up a gold bar, looked it over, put it down and picked up another, scratched his head and said, "Well orders are orders, so I guess it's alright. But why in Heaven would you want to bring a suitcase full of pavement with you?"
I've been thinking lately about Heaven and all the things that will be there, and especially about what is valued there. The Bible says the streets will be made out of gold, and I think God might have done that intentionally to illustrate something. The stuff that is so highly prized on Earth that national economies are set by "The Gold Standard" is the stuff we walk on in Heaven. There is nothing we will need to buy or sell in Heaven, because there is no need. There will be no economy at all in Heaven, we won't even NEED a medium of exchange like money because we will not have to work to make money to buy what we need to keep living.
In a world like that, what kind of reward could possibly matter? What could we have that we will prize there? There won't even be a concept of owning stuff, because we will no longer need to own stuff to survive. What kind of treasure, what kind of reward would be prized so much that it would be given as a reward in Heaven?
Any thoughts, anybody?
Luke 6:35 [/SUP]But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
What treasures? What reward? What are they?
There's a story about a man who was a very godly man, but also a very rich man. He was also a very thrifty man and did not like the idea of everything he had accumulated on earth being lost when he died, so he prayed long and hard to be allowed to take something to Heaven with him when he died. Finally God told him he would be allowed to take one suitcase with him to Heaven. (Yes I know this goes directly against what the Bible says, but I'm going somewhere with this. Just bear with me a moment.)
So this rich man got a suitcase, filled it with pure gold bars and left it beside his bed. In time the rich man died and he found himself at St. Peter's check-in desk lugging his heavy suitcase. Peter had some natural questions about the suitcase, as it went directly against the rules, but the rich man insisted God Himself said he could bring it. Peter checked and reported back that orders from above were the man could indeed bring the suitcase in, "but as a security matter I must inspect the suitcase first." Peter opened the suitcase, picked up a gold bar, looked it over, put it down and picked up another, scratched his head and said, "Well orders are orders, so I guess it's alright. But why in Heaven would you want to bring a suitcase full of pavement with you?"
I've been thinking lately about Heaven and all the things that will be there, and especially about what is valued there. The Bible says the streets will be made out of gold, and I think God might have done that intentionally to illustrate something. The stuff that is so highly prized on Earth that national economies are set by "The Gold Standard" is the stuff we walk on in Heaven. There is nothing we will need to buy or sell in Heaven, because there is no need. There will be no economy at all in Heaven, we won't even NEED a medium of exchange like money because we will not have to work to make money to buy what we need to keep living.
In a world like that, what kind of reward could possibly matter? What could we have that we will prize there? There won't even be a concept of owning stuff, because we will no longer need to own stuff to survive. What kind of treasure, what kind of reward would be prized so much that it would be given as a reward in Heaven?
Any thoughts, anybody?