Treasure in Heaven

Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for you treasure upon the earth, where moth and corrosion obliterate and where thieves dig through and steal. 20 But store up for you treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor corrosion obliterate and where thieves do not dig through nor steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there also shall be your heart.

Denying this Life

Matthew 10:37 He loving father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me, and he loving son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow behind Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He seeking his life shall lose it, and he losing his life because of Me shall find it.

Those who ignore the advice which Yahshua gives in these verses may indeed find themselves to be unworthy of Him. As the prophet Daniel said, “... thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” One who seeks to preserve his life here above all else shall lose it anyway, and may well have no reward in the next. One disregarding his own life here on behalf of Christ shall have a great reward in the next. Christ told us above all to keep His commandments, and to love our brethren. Everything else is basically immaterial. If we do those few things, then we devote our life to our race, and not to our bellies or to our own safety and well-being.

Small Acts of Kindness

Matthew 10:42 And he who would give one of these little ones a single cup of cold water to drink in the name of a student, truly I say to you, by no means should he lose his reward.”

At Mark 9:41 it is recorded that Christ said: “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” A cup of cold water was valued in the hot dry climate of Palestine, and was a sign in itself of the restoration of life, as Christ described Himself as living water to the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4. We take care of the sheep. And we are rewarded accordingly. But we have absolutely no responsibility to care for wolves, dogs and swine. And if we do, then we are neglecting sheep, and we shall suffer as much for it.

No Fear

Matthew 10:26 Therefore you should not fear them. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed and secret which shall not be made known. 27 That which I say to you in the darkness you speak in the light, and that which you hear in the ear proclaim upon the houses!

How can a Christian ever be afraid to speak the truth? If you are persecuted for speaking the truth, then be proud of it – your reward is great in heaven!