11th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 20th June 2025 – 2 Cor 11,18.21-30; Mt 6,19-23
Sincere Motivations
Jesus has been teaching that what God cares about most, and what ultimately determines righteousness, are the motivations of a sincere heart. In focusing on money and possessions, Jesus tells his followers not to stockpile riches and possessions on earth. Those are temporary and easily lost. Instead, He says, stockpile rewards in eternity by your true, inner devotion to God. His point is not that Christians cannot have wealth, or they should not own anything or they cannot have a bank account. Rather, He means that we must only have God as our ultimate priority. Paul will teach clearly that believers must provide for their families (1 Tim 5,8) and wisdom demands some planning for even our temporary future on earth (Prov 6,6-8). Wealth is like any other blessing from God (1 Tim 4,4) and should be used according to God’s purposes. If we focus time, energy, and effort on building wealth for ourselves on earth, that wealth is what our hearts will focus on. If we focus on building rewards from God in heaven, our hearts will focus on the experience of enjoying that “treasure” forever. In short, our hearts and our sincerity towards God matter more than any material possessions on earth.
