Hidden treasure
Matthew 13:44
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
A rockhound named Rob Cutshaw owns a little roadside shop outside Andrews, North Carolina. Like many in the trade, he hunts for rocks, then sells them to collectors or jewelry makers. He knows enough about rocks to decide which to pick up and sell, but he's no expert. He leaves the appraising of his rocks to other people.
While on a dig twenty years ago, Rob found a rock he described as "purdy and big." He tried unsuccessfully to sell the specimen, so he kept the rock in his closet. He guessed the blue chunk could bring as much as $500, but he would have taken less if something urgent came up like paying his power bill.
That's how close Rob came to hocking for a few hundred dollars what turned out to be the largest, most valuable sapphire ever found. The blue rock that Rob had abandoned to the darkness of a closet two decades ago--now known as "The Star of David" sapphire--weighs nearly a pound and could easily sell for $2.75 million.
In the parable Jesus told in today’s passage, a man found treasure and sold everything he had to get it. What he had without the treasure was nothing compared to what he had with it.
Our lives before Christ were nothing compared to the lives we can have with him. What does Jesus offer that you didn’t have before? How about peace? How about joy? He offers us a way to live better with the people around us, and to help effect real change in people’s lives. He offers us a life of substance. And all of that is before we start talking about an eternity in heaven!
As you grow, there are going to be things, habits, or relationships that you need to leave behind. Those things are nothing compared to the life God has for you. Know the value of what God is offering.
Today’s Readings: Matthew 11-13
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