In Luke 12:30, Jesus assures ‘the little flock’ that “all the nations of the world” seek after the very things that said flock also needs. But in the following Verses there is a distinction between ‘the little flock,’ and the rest of the world. Whereas the rest of the world is left to their earthly devices to seek the things they need, the ‘little flock’, who have chosen to have faith in God, may use their faith in considering the pursuit of things they need to the extent that God knows these needs.
But God in Luke 12:32-33 has lais out conditions on which our dependence on Him in that regard bears fruit. They are as follows: 1) Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. 2) Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old. These are the very tings that the rest of the nations pursue; they are earthly things that are not found in God’s Kingdom.
The remainder of Verse 33, and in Verse 34, are the treasures described in God’s Kingdom as distinguished from earthly goods. These things don’t grow old, they don’t fail, they are out of reach of any thief, and they cannot be destroyed by moths, the inference being that earthly things decay with time. So, the treasures in Heaven are eternal, as God’s Kingdom is.
Other things that Jesus says establishes God’s attitude toward those who insist on holding onto earthly things. In the Parable of the Rich Young Man, when he advises the young man in Mark 10:21 to “sell all that you have and give to the poor.” If that’s not clear enough, Jesus says in Matthew 19:24, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” The inference is whoever has earthly goods in his possession will not be able to enter Heaven with them. After all, earthly goods are subject to decay, and nothing in God’s Kingdom in Heaven is subject to decay.
So, the point Jesus makes in these passages is the little flock, who has faith in God, has a leg up on the rest of the world in terms of things that God will provide without the worry the rest of the world commits to obtaining earthly things, and in terms of treasures of the Lord that are waiting.
But God in Luke 12:32-33 has lais out conditions on which our dependence on Him in that regard bears fruit. They are as follows: 1) Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. 2) Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old. These are the very tings that the rest of the nations pursue; they are earthly things that are not found in God’s Kingdom.
The remainder of Verse 33, and in Verse 34, are the treasures described in God’s Kingdom as distinguished from earthly goods. These things don’t grow old, they don’t fail, they are out of reach of any thief, and they cannot be destroyed by moths, the inference being that earthly things decay with time. So, the treasures in Heaven are eternal, as God’s Kingdom is.
Other things that Jesus says establishes God’s attitude toward those who insist on holding onto earthly things. In the Parable of the Rich Young Man, when he advises the young man in Mark 10:21 to “sell all that you have and give to the poor.” If that’s not clear enough, Jesus says in Matthew 19:24, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” The inference is whoever has earthly goods in his possession will not be able to enter Heaven with them. After all, earthly goods are subject to decay, and nothing in God’s Kingdom in Heaven is subject to decay.
So, the point Jesus makes in these passages is the little flock, who has faith in God, has a leg up on the rest of the world in terms of things that God will provide without the worry the rest of the world commits to obtaining earthly things, and in terms of treasures of the Lord that are waiting.
