Heaven is certainly a real location. But it is not a place we expect to visit in this life. However, this verse says it is a place our hearts can dwell even while we remain on the earth. How can that be?
We house our hearts in heaven when we spend our money on the things of heaven. When we spend generously to serve others. Jesus makes clear in this verse from the Sermon on the Mount that this is highly advisable.
But the principle is broader. It says we can tell where our heart is at any point by reviewing our actual expenditures. Our heart follows our spending.
Did you pick up the check to show off that you could? Or out of generosity? One places our heart in heaven, the other at the mercy of opinion.
It is wise to occasionally check our investment accounts and make adjustments based on how we see the market developing. It is even wiser to check our bank statement and assess where we have invested our heart.
Jesus tells us that heaven is a place where God’s will is done. It is also a place we can house our hearts and treasures while still living on earth. He is in a real sense inviting us into the perspective and riches of Heaven now, as well as the future. When we invest our heart in heaven, we also transfer our financial assets to a heavenly “safety deposit box”. It will still be there when we arrive.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
– Matthew 6:19-21