Don’t collect for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves break in and don’t steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.     Matthew 6:19-21 HCSB

We have been studying Abraham in our Sunday School lessons the last few weeks. We are told in Genesis 13:2 that Abraham was very rich in livestock, silver and gold. If you continue to read on about Abraham, you will see that he continued to live in tents. He could have built a mansion. He could have built a city, but Abraham was focused on his treasures in heaven. Hebrews 11:9 tells us that by faith Abraham stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac (his son) and Jacob (his grandson), coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Abraham was planning his future in heaven. God blessed Abraham’s faithfulness. He promised that Abraham would be the father of a great nation and that the whole world would be blessed through him. He promised to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who came against him. God kept His promises.

While Abraham was blessed by God and was very rich, he stayed focused on his eternal home. He realized that he was just a visitor here on planet earth. He was just passing through.

There is nothing wrong with being wealthy. We should all plan for our future. You are not sinning if you have a healthy retirement set up or a 401K. It is not wrong to want to be able to leave a substantial inheritance for your children. But, if you are so focused on their monetary inheritance that you fail to leave them with the knowledge of the importance of a good, solid relationship with their Lord and Savior, you have left them bankrupt.

My mother was a banker and taught me the importance of saving money, but first and foremost she was a Christian woman who raised me in church. She didn’t drop me off. She brought me and served in that church as a teacher, a clerk, a choir member, a Women’s Mission Union member and probably a bunch of stuff I didn’t even realize she did. My mother taught me to plan for a future in heaven. She taught me how to love the Lord. She taught me to pray continually and to study my Bible. She taught me to tithe. There was a time in my life when I rebelled against this teaching. But praise God, His word is true. Proverbs 22:6 holds true when it says, “Teach a child in the way he should go and even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Yesterday we talked about wisdom. It is wise to plan for emergencies. It is wise to save some of your money. It is wise to teach your children how to manage money properly. But if you do all this and fail to bring them up to love and serve the Lord, you are being foolish.

Don’t put all your planning and focus into a life that is temporary. Learn from Abraham and be focused on eternity. Plan for the things that may come in this temporary life here on earth but let your primary focus be on the life that awaits us in heaven. Focus on your permanent home. Plan for your eternal future not only for the brief time you will spend here on earth.

If you save for a rainy day and teach your children to do the same, you are doing well. But if you are so busy trying to accumulate wealth to spend or to leave for your children that you don’t take time to teach them to love and serve their Lord and Savior, you are doing them a great disservice. You could very well be condemning them to an eternity in hell.

Stop to think about which future you are planning for. Stop to think about where the bulk of your time and your money is spent. Our Scripture passage tells us that this is where our heart is. Is your heart in the right place. Are you teaching your children to put their hearts in the right place?

We all need to plan for the future, but our focus should be on our eternal future. Once this temporary life is over, it will be too late to change that. If your focus needs to change, do it now before it’s too late.

Have a great day!