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Focus: Where Your Heart Is
Matt. 6:19-24
There is an old kid’s song they used to sing that went like this: “Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little eyes what you see. For the father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see.” The song repeats through a few more verses, changing to “be careful little ears what you hear”; then “be careful little tongue what you say” and “be careful little hands what you do” before ending with “be careful little feet where you go” and “be careful little heart whom you trust.”
When I first thought deeply about the song I was tempted to see it as a form of pharisaical legalism. Better watch your step because God has his eye you and is ready to smite you if you mess up or step out of line.
I even went so far as to be indignant at the song for suggesting that I was responsible for the things I was exposed to. Surely, I wasn’t to blame for all the negative images that the world constantly bombarded me with.
But as I thought even more deeply, I realized the profound wisdom of the song. God isn’t looking down in judgement, but in love. He desires us to make sure we are living our lives careful of the consequences of our actions.
Though it is true we sometimes are exposed to things without our choice or consent, on the whole, we have a tremendous amount of choice about the things we are exposed to. What we are exposed to changes our perspective and modifies our desires and ultimately shifts the direction of our lives. That is something this song gets exactly right. Be careful what you see and hear, because it will shape what you do, where you go, and whom you trust.
As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we encounter three cautions that Jesus gives to his followers as the precursor to avoiding anxiety. In Matthew 6:25, Jesus says, “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried...” The phrase “For this reason” points to the fact that what He just said has been building up to this. Jesus is showing us the source of anxiety. It begins in what we focus on. What we focus on ends up consuming us. So, we need to be careful. We need to guard the access to our hearts, because what we allow in determines the kind of people we are in the process of becoming.
Be Careful What You Value (vv. 19-21)
Jesus first tells us to worry about what we treasure. This passage concludes with the reason. Verse 21 says, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In the Bible, heart means more than emotions. It refers to your will, the very center of your being, the thing that gives orientation and direction to everything you do. Jesus tells us to be careful what you treasure because it will determine what is in our hearts which determine the direction of our lives.
Jesus doesn’t make categories of treasure like money, or education, or property then tell us whether they are good or bad. Rather, He divides everything into two groups: earthly treasure and heavenly treasure. These categories have been wrongly assumed to be about physical and spiritual things, as if Jesus is saying physical things like houses, money, and clothes are bad, and spiritual things like prayer and worship are good. God created everything in this world. When He did so, He looked at everything and declared it good. Jesus isn’t talking about the things, but our focus upon them. Others make the extreme interpretation that this command is about how saving money is wrong because it shows we aren’t trusting God. That is not what this means either.
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