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

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more