Nehemiah 5:18 – Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance.
There were constantly people around Jesus who lied about, attacked, and threatened Him. In a shocking plot twist, they were unable to murder Jesus until someone in His inner circle aligned with critics and betrayed Christ. Judas opened himself to Satan, and because he was very close to Jesus, he was very deadly to Jesus.
Strangers online, politicians we have never met, and critics of Christianity are real and potentially a real problem. Our greatest threat, however, is usually the people who say they are believers that we allow to be close with us.
Paul said to the church at Ephesus during his farewell meeting before sailing away in Acts 20:29-30 (NLT), “I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.”
We tend to trust the people we know more than the people we do not know, especially if they profess to believe in our God and are part of our believing community.
Look up the following Scriptures to learn what Jesus says about our treasure: Matthew 6:19-24; Luke 18:22.