Our Treasures in Heaven

The sections this week in the Come, Follow Me lesson contain a few passages that teach us about what we take with us into the next life. One teaching from the prophet reads this way: “And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.” This suggests that in some way our friendships and relationships with other people can endure beyond the grave. The prophet further taught, “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2, 18-19). What we learn and the abilities we develop in this life will continue with us. I believe this includes as well our goodness and Christlike attributes—surely the most important kind of intelligence we can gain is that which helps us to be more like the Savior. The “riches” and “vain things of this world,” on the other hand, will all be left behind as Alma taught his son Corianton (Alma 39:14). This then, I believe, gives us guidance on what areas we should focus on in our lives: our relationships with others and our knowledge and abilities and spiritual traits. That will continue to matter and grow and be developed in the world to come, but our material possessions will all be left behind. Our friendships and family bonds, our intelligence and skills and godly attributes, are surely all part of those treasures which “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20). They will indeed be our “treasures in heaven.”    

               The final two sections in this reading highlight a particular kind of relationship that can endure into the eternal worlds. That is the “new and everlasting covenant of marriage” which we must enter into in order to obtain the highest degree of the celestial kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-2). In order for marriage to endure forever, it must be united and sealed according to the Lord’s way. He declared, “And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood… it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.” The marriage relationship, in order for it to persist as such, with the continuation of seed between a man and a woman, must be entered into in the new and everlasting covenant and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. It would seem, then, that our sociality with friends and family can endure to some degree in the next life without this formal binding under the power of the priesthood, but to continue in the marriage relationship into eternity it must be sealed by the Lord and in His way. This also then highlights what should be of most importance to those have entered into this marriage covenant; it has the possibility to endure in the next life, but all other earthly “covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations” will disappear as we progress on our eternal journey (Doctrine and Covenants 132:7, 19). And yet so often those mortal dealings have our greatest focus and take up the vast majority of our attention. These sections help reorient us to realize what matters most. That sealing relationship in marriage in addition to the sociality among our closest family and friends, coupled with our learning and experience and Christlike attributes, should be at the heart of what we really care about in this life.