There’s an epidemic spreading in our churches today, and it’s not one you can catch from a sneeze or a handshake. It’s a spiritual malady that has been infecting the hearts and minds of even the most well-meaning of Christians everywhere—a soul-sapping sickness that Jesus himself warned against. And yet, it seems, we’ve turned a deaf ear to His caution. I’m talking about the obsession with the material and the mundane, the fixation with the fleeting and the transient, the endless toiling for treasures that tarnish and fade—the vanity of vanities, as the preacher in Ecclesiastes laments.

Just take a quick peek at the daily news or a quick scroll through social media. It’s all there, plain as day—countless professing believers in the living God, whose eyes should be fixed on the things above, are instead mired in the dirt and grime of this world. All too often, we find ourselves striving for status or cultivating our image with the same energy and focus that we should be devoting to cultivating our relationship with the Lord.

And for what? What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

The wise preacher of Ecclesiastes saw this all too clearly in his own time. He lamented, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3). He was a king who had it all—wealth, wisdom, works—and yet he found it all to be futile, a mere chasing after the wind. His verdict? All of life under the sun, without a high view to God in heaven, is utterly meaningless.

This echoes profoundly today as we witness brothers and sisters striving after earthly treasures, neglecting to store up that which moth and rust cannot corrupt.

The Lord Jesus Himself weighed in on this subject in the Sermon on the Mount, and His words are worth examining more closely. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Now, what did Jesus mean by “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal”? In the time of Jesus, the wealth of a person was often stored in the form of clothing, grains, and precious metals. Moths would destroy valuable garments, rust would corrode metals, and thieves would break into houses to steal these earthly goods. These images serve as vivid metaphors for the transitory and precarious nature of earthly riches. Today’s equivalent might be the stock market crashing, a sudden job loss, or the swift devaluation of property. Nothing that we store up on this earth is safe from loss or destruction.

And what of this “treasure” Jesus urges us to store in heaven? Theologically speaking, these heavenly treasures aren’t physical riches, but rather spiritual riches that come from a right relationship with God. They include the virtues of faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and the fruits of service to God and others—and most importantly, the proclamation of the gospel itself that saves people from this world and brings them into the eternal Kingdom. These treasures are incorruptible, they cannot be stolen, and they bring everlasting reward.

The Puritan preacher, Thomas Watson, aptly stated, “The things of the world will no more keep out trouble of spirit, than a paper sconce will keep out a bullet.” We ought to be reminded of this when we’re tempted to covet the things of this world. They offer no true consolation or security.

Brothers and sisters, this doesn’t mean that we should neglect our earthly responsibilities, or that it’s wrong to enjoy the good gifts that God gives us in this life. We do have an earthly life to live, children to feed, and families to protect. But we must hold these things lightly, recognizing that they are not our ultimate goal or source of satisfaction. Our hearts should not be tethered to the things of this world but anchored in heaven, where our true treasure lies.

We must be like the Apostle Paul who understood this when he said, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Paul understood what many of us fail to grasp—that the true treasure is not found in earthly wealth or possessions, but in knowing and serving Christ.

Let’s stop wasting time chasing after the wind and start investing in the only currency that matters in the grand scheme of eternity. Instead of hoarding up treasures here on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, let’s heed the words of Christ and start storing up treasures in heaven. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.