“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
I know, I know, Jesus seems to be teaching that treasures on earth are to be denounced and demeaned. Actually, he’s setting up a contrast here to point out the eternal value of heavenly things versus the temporary, utter worthlessness of Earthly treasures. He uses passing material things to highlight the opposite: the heavenly life of the ages.
While the Greek term is a little different, “treasures” seems to be a good interpretation of the intended meaning. The Greek actually says something akin to “storehouses,” implying an abundance kept against tomorrow, an insurance policy against famine and poverty.
Jesus teaches us to store up “for yourselves” abundance in heaven. He makes this personal by referring to a group of individuals. He specifies that, what you focus on, your heart will be set on it. He’s implying that what you set your heart on (heaven) will become the reality in your life.
In Jesus’ day, people believed that the heart did the thinking, which is not entirely wrong. Today we overemphasize the brain as the source of thought. But modern science tells us that the heart and brain are constantly communicating and share in the formation of thoughts (https://www.heartmath.org/heart-coherence/personal/).
(Interestingly, the Greek word translated as treasure is the same word that became “thesaurus” in modern English, a book that lists synonyms. So, the Greek thesaurous came to mean a book that stores words with related meanings.)
So, Jesus teaches us to store up treasures of heaven, because it will focus your thoughts and feelings on heaven. Keep a “book” of heavenly thoughts and feelings.
Whatever you are thinking about the most, that becomes the focus of your life. Therefore, we are to think about things of heaven and store them up in our heart. These treasures of heaven are what he is teaching us about in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout his ministry, esp. how heaven works on Earth. We store the way of the heavens in our heart. “The kingdom of God is inside of the human.” – Luke 17:21 (a more literal translation from the Greek)
But it is only in your heart if you treasure up the eternal things of heaven. And, when your heart is set on heavenly things, you are predisposed to see heaven on Earth and build it. Jesus is teaching us how the kingdom of heaven comes to Earth: by cultivating the treasures of heaven in our hearts.
(Author’s note: I’m eager to see where Jesus teaches that we must wait for his return to bring the kingdom of heaven, and that we must avoid sin so that when we die we go to heaven. At this point, I’m not convinced that these are Jesus’ teachings, but someone else’s. But I’ll be happy to be proven wrong.)