Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
This verse comes from a letter written by the apostle Paul — one of the earliest and most influential followers of Jesus — to his younger protégé Timothy, who was leading a church in Ephesus, a prosperous, cosmopolitan city in what is now western Turkey. Paul has been addressing wealthy members of the congregation, warning them not to put their hope in money. Here he offers them a reframe: generosity isn't loss, it's investment. 'The coming age' refers to the eternal life and kingdom of God that Paul believed was coming. 'The life that is truly life' is a striking phrase — implying that what most people call living is actually a pale substitute for the real thing.
Father, I confess I chase shadow-life more than I want to admit — comfort, security, the next thing I'm waiting for. Shift my vision. Help me build something that lasts, with open hands and a heart that's learning to want what you want. Amen.
'The life that is truly life.' Read that phrase again, slowly. Paul's implication is jarring: most of what we call living isn't. The packed calendar, the growing account balance, the next trip planned, the next purchase arriving Thursday — none of it, Paul suggests, is the real article. And then he says something stranger: generosity is the door into it. That's not intuitive. We tend to feel most alive when we're accumulating things, not dispersing them. But Paul has watched something happen in generous people — a fullness that shows up not when the bank account swells, but when the hands open. This isn't about earning your way into heaven with good deeds — Paul is emphatic elsewhere that grace doesn't work that way. This is about alignment. When you give generously, consistently and not just when it's easy, something in you begins to want what God wants. You start caring about the people God cares about. And slowly, 'the life that is truly life' stops being a promise about the future and starts to become something you actually inhabit now. What's one place in your life where you could loosen your grip today and start building something that outlasts everything else you're building?
What do you think Paul means by 'the life that is truly life'? What would that look like on an ordinary Wednesday for you?
Can you think of a time when being generous — with money, time, or something else — led to unexpected fullness rather than loss?
Paul frames generosity as 'laying up treasure' and building a 'firm foundation.' How do you hold the real tension between responsible saving for the future and open-handed generosity now?
How does the idea that generosity shapes who we become — not just what we give — change how you think about people in your life who have genuine needs?
What is one concrete way you could invest in 'the coming age' this month — through giving, serving, or a form of generosity you've been putting off?
He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
Proverbs 22:9
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Luke 16:9
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
2 Timothy 2:19
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Matthew 6:20
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Matthew 5:42
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Matthew 6:19
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21
In this way storing up for themselves the enduring riches of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
AMP
thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
ESV
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
NASB
In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
NIV
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
NKJV
By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
NLT
If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.
MSG