Treasure in Heaven

Sunday’s robbery of the Louvre reminds us of a Book of Mormon prophecy from Samuel the Lamanite. He warned the Nephites, “And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.” He told them that they would lament with these words, “O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us” (Helaman 13:31, 33). Samuel the Lamanite wanted the Nephites to understand that if they put their trust in wealth instead of God, they would ultimately lose it and regret it one day. In a four-minute heist in daylight, an estimated 102 million dollars worth of jewels were stolen from the Louvre, and they will likely never be recovered. They were indeed much more slippery than anyone would have thought. It highlights the fleeting nature of wealth and that the things of this world are not permanent.

The Book of Mormon teaches us that our real treasure should be things of a much more permanent nature. Helaman taught his sons, “And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers” (Helaman 5:8). And that is exactly what they did, giving up a position of prominence (and likely wealth) to be missionaries the rest of their days. One of those sons, Nephi, warned the people with these words, “But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and rebelled against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, and where nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment” (Helaman 8:25). Their hearts were set on the things of the world instead of those which will last beyond this life. The Savior similarly taught when He visited the people several decades later, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (3 Nephi 13:19-21). The Savior invites us to set our hearts on eternal things, not the fleeting treasures of the world. Thieves indeed broke through and stole those crown jewels at the Louvre, and they could similarly steal the physical possessions we have personally. But they can never steal the love of our Father in Heaven for us or our covenants with the Lord or our testimony of the gospel or our commitment to the Savior or our eternal bonds with our families. Those are treasures we can take with us to heaven.

                The Lord gave important counsel to William Marks and Newel K. Whitney about riches when they were in Kirtland after most of the faithful members of the Church had fled to Missouri. They wanted to salvage what they could of their personal interests and possessions, but the Lord said this to them: “Let the properties of Kirtland be turned out for debts, saith the Lord. Let them go, saith the Lord… Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and on the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters?” (Doctrine and Covenants 117:5, 8) They were to let go of their desire to recuperate some of their money and attend to more weightier matters by joining the Saints in Missouri. It is a warning to us that wealth and possessions are not what matters most to the Lord, and they can disappear at any time. Physical wealth is but a drop compared to the eternal blessings that the Lord wants to give us. Thieves may break through and steal earthly possessions, but they can never take what matters most.