Matthew 6:19-21: “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 be will also.”
GOD's financial and giving advice is this: Invest eternally in treasures in heaven, not in treasures on earth, because everything belongs to GOD, and we are His stewards, His representatives, managing His property, assets and possessions until we die or JESUS returns.
GOD is the Owner, Master, Creator, Father and Sovereign King, and when our stewardship on earth ends, we will be called before JESUS to give an account of how we managed every gift, talent, resource, property, possession, opportunity, moment, day, month, year, position, and soul GOD entrusted to us. Every earthly work will be tested by GOD’s holy fire and only that which was rendered to GOD, done in CHRIST, for GOD's glory and His Kingdom will remain, resulting in eternal rewards or great losses.
Basically, throughout the Bible, especially during JESUS' ministry and in His parables, we are warned against putting our hope, faith, trust and future in earthly treasures that rust, rot, break, decay, are eaten or stolen. Instead we are instructed, commanded, to seek first the Kingdom of GOD and His Righteousness; to make GOOD, ETERNAL investments while we live on earth toward the Kingdom of GOD, loving, serving and giving foremost to GOD and then to others as the HOLY SPIRIT leads us--sacrificing whatever may be necessary or for a greater good--time, food, shelter, advice, wisdom, money, transportation, a hug, smile, prayer, or our undivided attention.
So then genuine compassion--one small act of kindness on earth for the glory of GOD--and even one moment taken out of a busy day to share the Gospel with a friend, a co-worker, a relative, or even a stranger will reap us more of a heavenly reward and GOD's good pleasure than our worldly fame, fortune, power, and influence among women and men.
What some of us are blind to see, refuse to acknowledge, or willfully ignore in our personal pursuits of the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is this: GOD is our HEAVENLY FATHER, our SOVEREIGN KING, our ETERNAL BOSS, and He made and owns everything, including us, for He created us in His image, according to His likeness, then redeemed us, saved us—paid for us—through His Son, JESUS CHRIST, at Calvary’s Cross after we had disobeyed, sinned, rebelled.
So now, after we accept JESUS as our LORD and SAVIOR, GOD adopts us into His family as sons and daughters, giving us the privilege of being part of His Family and an opportunity to spend eternity in His Presence.
And without GOD, we would be nothing; we could do nothing; and we would have nothing to manage, including our own lives. Therefore, our best investment is in GOD's business--His priorities and His interests, which are His Kingdom, His Plans, His Work, His Investments, His Word, His Son.
We shouldn't be so busy or obsessed with storing treasures on earth that we forget our purpose, our assignment, our destination, our Creator, our King. After all, when we die, we cannot take a moving truck with all our earthly possessions with us. All we can take are souls, and all we can do while we live is convert earthly treasure into heavenly currency and send it ahead of us as a deposit into an everlasting account. Then when we meet our Righteous Judge and King of Kings face-to-face, we may actually hear Him, JESUS, say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done."
