Value (vv. 16-21)
- The temporary nature of earthly treasure
- The eternal nature of heavenly treasure
- The motivating nature of what you treasure
Vision (vv. 22-23)
- A focus on light
- A focus on darkness
- An ironic reality
Variance (v. 24)
- Two masters
- One outcome
More to Consider
The ‘worldliness’ which Christians are to avoid can take either a religious or a secular shape. So, we are to differ from non-Christians not only in our devotions, but also in our ambitions. In particular, Christ changes our attitude to material wealth and possessions. It is impossible to worship both God and money; we have to choose between them. Secular people are preoccupied with the quest for food, drink and clothing. Christians are to be free of these self-centred material anxieties and instead to give themselves to the spread of God’s rule and God’s righteousness. That is to say, our supreme ambition is to be the glory of God, and neither our own glory nor even our own material well-being. It is a question of what we ‘seek first’. John Stott
In Russia, Christians are tested by hardship, but in America you are tested by freedom. And testing by freedom is much harder. Nobody pressures you about your religion. So, you relax and are not so concentrated on Christ, on His teaching, how He wants you to live." Pavel Poloz, recently (1987) exiled from Russia, Moody Monthly, April, 1989.
A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." Good News Broadcaster, April, 1985, p. 12.
Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as "the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity," "the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will," and "the center of a person. The place to which God turns." J. Stowell, Fan the Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 13.
