A story is told about a church that needed to make some repairs to their building. The situation had become so desperate that the congregation called a special meeting to address the problem.

During the meeting, one gentleman stood up and said, “I pledge $100 toward the project to repair the church building.” No sooner had the man sat down when a huge section of plaster fell from the ceiling and hit him squarely on the top of his head. Fortunately, he was not hurt badly. He stood up and declared, “I am raising my pledge to $1,000!” Immediately a voice from the back cried out, “Hit him again, Lord! Hit him again!”

We shouldn’t need to be hit over the head to want to give to the Lord’s work. The desire to honor God with our material possessions should be a characteristic of all followers of Jesus Christ.

Jesus teaches a lot about our attitude toward money. Scholars have pointed out that Jesus has more to say about money than he does heaven and hell put together. It is plain to see that Jesus is greatly concerned about how his disciples handle their money. Matt.6:19-24 contain some of Jesus’ core teaching about finances: “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…No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Here Jesus contrasts the temporary nature of earthly treasures with the eternal nature of treasures that are heavenly. Riches on earth are fleeting; they can disappear very quickly. But the treasures we build up in heaven through our work for the Lord will last forever. Therefore, Jesus implores us to store up treasures that are heavenly rather than earthly. Eternal wealth can be built up through holy living, obedience to God’s commands, winning people to Jesus, building other disciples up in their faith and, of course, giving money to the work of the Lord.

A second principle that Jesus teaches here is that the things we treasure determine where our affections reside, whether with worldly riches or with the Lord. Wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be also. The way you spend your money shows what you really love. Show me your spending records and I’ll show you what is most important to you. A church member reportedly once confided to his preacher that he didn’t have much interest in the local church. The preacher told him to increase his giving to the church by $10 each week until he reached the point where he truly cared about the church!

A third principle we see in Jesus’ teaching here is that we cannot have divided loyalties. It is not possible to serve both God and money. A person can have two employers, but you cannot have two owners. If we truly belong to God, we cannot live as though our allegiance was to money. As someone once said, “It’s all right to have money, but your money cannot have you.” If your finances have a stranglehold on your life, it is impossible to live for God. We must each decide which master we will serve—God or money.

We must not take lightly what Jesus teaches about money. We cannot ignore what he says about our finances and live a powerful Christian life. Indeed, to disobey Jesus in this matter might cost us our life entirely!