Treasures in Heaven

Today, I'm thinking about rewards. My wife and I just had our second child and she has been a wonderful blessing to us. In church today I thought about what the Lord teaches in Luke chapter 15. After speaking about seeking the kingdom of God, Christ says, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." So, where am I spending my time and energy? On things that can be stolen or corrupted in this world? Or maybe on the things that are "a treasure in heaven, that faileth not"?

In Matthew 19:16-30 a young man comes to Jesus and asks him what he needed to do to obtain eternal life. The Savior responds that he needs to keep the commandments. The young man replies that he has kept the commandments since he was young and asks what he still lacks to be worthy of that great gift. Jesus ultimately says that if you really do what to be perfect, you need to go sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and follow me. It says that the young man then goes away sorrowful because he was very wealthy.

I've always found this interesting because the young man seems so intent on obtaining eternal life; like he would do whatever it took to achieve that blessing. But when Jesus tells him all that is required of him, he doesn't do it. It seems to me that the first answer the Savior gave the young man is one that applies to all of us. We all need to keep the commandments in order to be worthy to enter the kingdom of God. The second answer that Jesus gave seems to be more personalized. In fact, I believe that each of us could potentially receive a different answer to that question if we had the opportunity to ask it. We are required to sacrifice to gain eternal life and in order to be sacrificial, it will be something that we really like.

We go on to read in Matthew 20:1-16 that no matter when we join the Lord's service, we will receive the same reward as those that have been working at it for years and years. In this parable there is a man hiring workers for his vineyard. He hires some in the first hour of the day, some in the third, others in the sixth, more in the ninth, and final few in the eleventh hour of the day. When it was time to be paid, the man paid all of them the same and those who worked from the beginning of the day were unhappy. The man told them they had received what he had promised him and reserved the right to pay all the others as he saw fit. So it will be with those who receive eternal life. Not everyone will have the opportunity to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ from early in life, but all will eventually have the opportunity. No matter when a person decides to follow the Savior, they will have the opportunity to receive eternal life.