You see it all around. Once a new road is built, over time it begins to deteriorate–cracks, potholes begin to form. As soon as you drive a new car off the lot, it too begins to deteriorate, some cars more quickly than others. That new outfit looks great right off the rack, but wash it once and you can see that even it has a life span.

Jesus knew this when He gave some wise words recorded in Matthew 6: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in a steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Whether by nature or human hands, decay happens everywhere. The kids observed with rapt attention this week as our rickety, rotted deck was taken down.

It didn’t take long for it to be disassembled and piled up like junk.

Sure, we’ll build a new one, but over time it too will begin to deteriorate. Everything on earth does. But what Jesus was teaching is great news: there are ways we can invest our money with no risk of losing it–no crashing stock market, no destructive natural disaster can touch it.

Store up your treasures in heaven, where they will be kept safe.