Connection Points: Loyalty

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon."

Matthew 6:19-24

Explanation
In this passage, Jesus is asking us whether our loyalty is to the Kingdom of Heaven or the kingdom of this world. He uses three analogies to help us evaluate our lives: The treasure our hearts are seeking, the direction our eyes are facing, and the master whom we are serving. Storing up treasures on earth is bad for us in three ways. First, we need to recognize that it is foolish to put eternal trust in perishable things – things that ‘moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.’ Second, when our gaze is directed to treasure on earth, we become blinded by the deceitfulness of the perishable – ‘your whole body will be full of darkness.’ Finally, when we store up treasures on earth we will become devoted and enslaved to those treasures – ‘he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.’ The only antidote to foolishness, blindness and enslavement is loyalty to God. In God alone is found solid joys and lasting treasures; an inheritance that cannot be lost, a true vision for the good life, and the easy yoke of our Lord. Loyalty to the Kingdom doesn’t mean forgoing or denying the things of the world, but rather imbuing all of our work, play, and worship with a God-directed hope and virtue.

Quotes
'Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there is something better out there for me? …there’s gotta be more than this.’ Tom Brady

'He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.’ Jim Elliot

Question for Parents
It is good to desire good things in this world – like relationships and leisure and even a nice vacation – but we can’t make them a priority over the kingdom. What good things does your family have a tendency to prioritize over the kingdom? How can you lean against this tendency in your family dynamic?

Question for Students
Loyalty to God means asking, ‘Who is this ultimately for?’ about all the things in our lives. What are some things in your life for which you cannot answer ‘this is ultimately for God?’ How is God asking you to show him loyalty in these places of your life?