Today's reading: Jeremiah 8; Matthew 13
I don't value being a member of God's kingdom the way Jesus says I should in Matthew 13...
I always enjoy all the parables Jesus tells in this chapter of Matthew, but one of the shortest is the one that struck me the most this morning:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Imagine this man's situation. However he comes across it, he finds a treasure that is of such value that there is no question that it is worth selling everything to get the field the treasure is hidden in, making the treasure rightfully his. Imagine how crazy he would have seemed to his friends and family as he starts selling his clothes, his furniture, his house, his horse, and anything else he can part with as quickly as he can. People would be trying to stop him from being so foolish because he obviously can't tell them why he is doing it in case someone else gets word and beats him to the punch. Or maybe if he did tell someone, having not seen the treasure themselves, they would still question and doubt whether it's really worth the risk he's taking. But then, when, after selling everything he owns and buying the field, he shows back up with immensely more than he had ever had before, what looked crazy while it was happening is proved to have been the best decision he could possibly have made.
Isn't this how Christians should be living? Is there anything we could possibly have or accomplish more valuable than the kingdom of heaven? Jesus Himself warns us not to store up treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but to store up our treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves can't break in and steal. The more we give of ourselves to the Lord in this life; of our time, our money, our energy, our focus, our everything; the more we are rewarded in eternity for it.
If I really believed that, what wouldn't I give? When the man saw the treasure in the field, he knew it was worth literally everything he could possibly sell. Do I see the kingdom of heaven that way? Do I recognize the value of my future eternity, or my position now as a child of God, as of more worth than any treasure that could ever be found? Am I more willing to look crazy to my family and friends than the man was in Jesus' parable? Am I willing to spend and be spent in order to lay up further and further treasures in Heaven? Am I more concerned with protecting my own little kingdom and lifestyle here and now, or am I willing to sell it all for the sake of gain that much more of the true riches that will last unto eternity?
I want to value the things of the Lord more rightly. I want to see more fully the value of the kingdom of heaven such that everyday, my drives, passions, and affections are more and more oriented toward eternity.
Father, open my eyes to see your glory, and the glory you have in store for your children, more accurately. I want my life to reflect a proper response to all that you have in store for us, and not be content to live as though this life is all there really is or all that really matters.
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