Skip to main content

Of Treasures In Fields

 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)

 

C. S. Lewis wrote that our desires are not strong enough. We are like children contented with playing in the mud in our yards because we cannot imagine going to the shore and building sand castles.

Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. According to the law, that treasure belonged to whoever owned the field, so the man who found it was making his acquisition of the treasure legal, but he had to sell everything he had to buy the field. It was a short-term loss of lesser possessions to gain a greater. We think we understand this, because we think we’d do it if we found a treasure. But we haven’t found a treasure.

Maybe we have the wrong hobbies. If we head a metal detector, collected beach glass, prospected for gold, silver, or gems, or even did genealogy, we might understand the idea of finding a treasure a little better. But let’s get back to the important point. Heaven is the treasure. Quite honestly, I don’t think most of us can get our minds around that. Yeah- streets of gold and all that wonderful stuff, but the real treasure of Heaven is God, and we just don’t get that. Rubies and diamonds are easy to imagine. God isn’t.

But the second comparison is what really got my attention today. We get it so wrong. At least I have gotten it so wrong. I read the first comparison:  Heaven is like a treasure. I read the second comparison: Heaven is like a pearl. In both cases, the hunter sells everything to gain the treasure. But do you see the error? It doesn’t say that the kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl. It says the kingdom of God is like a merchant looking for pearls. When God finds one, He sold everything He had and bought it.

What did God sell? His Son. He couldn’t sell the kingdom of Heaven or Himself because that would be impossible. But if His Son took the form of a human, God could exchange Him for all the pearls. It’s the same price, no matter how many pearls are involved, but it was the ultimate price paid for each one.

But then, most of us can’t imagine ourselves as a treasured pearl any more than we can imagine heaven as a treasure.

Lord, teach us how to treasure Heaven, for it is where You are. Teach us to imagine ourselves as a treasure that You have found.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, anger, fear, jealousy, and lust can crowd out everything else. This is like
Post a Comment
Read more

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Sharing

            Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure . (I Timothy 5:22) Today’s is a hard one. The part about not being hasty in the laying on of hands isn’t so much the problem unless your love language is Touch. We aren’t pastors. We don’t tend to be involved in commissioning anyone. What we don’t tend to think of when we hear “laying on of hands” is that it involves relationship and approval. Our sending them away as our representatives may not seem real to us, but just think about what being seen with the wrong folks can do to a reputation. I’ve heard that Billy Graham would not be in a room alone with a woman. Others follow the same policy, or at least make sure the door is open so that anyone who wants to can see that nothing’s going on. But the hard part is not sharing in the sins of others. What does it mean? It’s comparatively easy to say that being pure means not having sex with someone who is not our spouse.
Post a Comment
Read more