Aim at Heaven - Matthew 6.19-23

August 06, 2017

Michael Malanga

During WW2, C.S. Lewis did a series of radio lectures on the subject of Christianity. These lectures were later published in a book: Mere Christianity. In his lecture on hope, Lewis reminded his audience that hope is not “a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.” He continued: “It (i.e., hope) does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” He finished his point with these now famous lines: “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you’ll get neither.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (118, Hope) To paraphrase Lewis, “Lay up treasures in heaven and you’ll get treasures on earth ‘thrown in’: lay up treasures on earth and you’ll get neither.”