“Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.” (Ex 16:19-20NIV)
What do we learn from our opening bible text? It is that corruption awaits anything that we are not meant to save here on earth that we save. As the account goes, God, through Moses, had instructed the Israelites on how to handle Manna, the food He was sending to them from heaven. And how were they to handle it? Each of them was to take only the exact measure of Manna that he could consume in one day and nothing more. Why? The reason was that God, who was supplying them this food, would always make sure they had enough of it for each day.
Unfortunately, there were some of these Israelites that would not pay any attention to what Moses had told them. So, they took more Manna than they needed in one day and kept the remaining part for the following day or days. But to their surprise, corruption had entered it before they woke up to see the light of the day after. So, they had to learn by experience that no one could preserve what God had not preserved.
In like manner, we too cannot preserve what God does not preserve. So, before we begin to save for the future or for the raining day, we need to be sure that what we are saving is what God wants us to save. Otherwise, like those Israelites, we also may just have to learn through some bitter experience that only what God preserves for us gets preserved.
Does this, then, mean we are not to save anything for the future at all but to consume everything that comes our way? No! Yes, it is true that our Lord Jesus teaches us that we should be content with asking God for today’s bread today (Matt 6:11&34). But that does not mean that God cannot give us more than today’s bread. He can. And He often gives us more than today’s bread, for He is always able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20).
Therefore, when He gives us more than today’s bread, He does not expect us to consume everything. Rather, He expects us to invest or save what is left. How, then, do we know what we are to invest and what we are to save from what God is giving to us? It takes divine revelations from Him to know these things. And where these are not given to people, they are bound to invest or save wrongly.
For instance, in the case of the Israelites above, when God wanted the people to save the Manna He was giving them for another day, He spoke to Moses about it. Look at how this is presented to us in the account:
“On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much — two omers for each person — and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'” So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.” (Ex 16:22-23NIV)
Did you see that? It was God that told Moses when the people should gather more than they would need for a day and to save part of it for the following day. And when they did, whatever was saved did not go bad at all. Rather, it was well preserved for their enjoyment. And who preserved it? It was God, the same God that had told them to save it.
So, when we invest or save on the basis of divine revelations, what we save will not be lost to corruption or devourers. Instead, it will be preserved for our enjoyment and for His glory. And this, of course, is also the explanation for what Jesus tells us about not storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth but storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven (Matt 6:19-21). Some have taken this to mean that God does not want us to save up anything in this world at all; rather, He wants us to give everything for His kingdom.
But that is far from the truth. Even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who taught us these things had savings. And Judas Iscariot was His treasurer. Why, then, was He saving up money here on earth, if it is wrong for us to do so? He saved up money here on earth because it is not wrong to do so. He saved up money here on earth because doing so has its own advantages. For instance, it enables one to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. Also, it provides one some measure of security in times of famine or unexpected hardship. (Cf. Gen 41; John 12:4-6)
However, as our Lord Jesus also shows us, whatever we save here on earth can become corrupt, lost or stolen, unless God preserves it for us. Also, we will someday have to leave whatever we save up here on earth, for we brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out of it. What, then, will become of whatever we have saved up here on earth, when we eventually leave this place?
What became of the money Jesus was saving with Judas Iscariot? First, His money was not entirely safe with the man – he was stealing from it for his own personal enjoyment. Also, when the man died, nobody could tell what became of whatever was left of Jesus’ money with him. Everything simply disappeared with his death.
So, when Jesus tells us that money or treasures kept here on earth are in danger of being stolen or lost or of experiencing corruption, He is not saying so to totally discourage from saving here on earth. Rather, He is saying these things so that we will learn to reach out for divine revelations from God about the matter. That way, we won’t end up saving up here on earth what we should be saving up in heaven and lose our savings to corruption.
Cheers!
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