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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” (Mat 13:44 – KJV)
Jesus’ parable describing the Kingdom of Heaven says some important things about this new journey I am on – setting my “affection” on things above (Colossians 3:3).
What would motivate someone to buy a metal detector? They, probably, believe something of value can be found below the surface in special locations, and they are willing to invest their money and time to look.
The man in Jesus’ parable had somehow found a buried treasure in a field which he did not, yet, own and thought it of such great value he did two (2) things:
- The first thing he did was hide it. Since it was originally hidden, I guess he re-hid it.
- The second thing he did was sell all he had and bought the entire field. I guess he was unsure how much treasure was there and he wanted it all.
There are several things to learn here:
1. The Kingdom of God is the treasure and is very valuable, so much so that the man (who probably represents us) was calculating that all he had was worth the purchase. God’s Kingdom is of such value that when recognized would lead any sane man to do what ever it would take to obtain that treasure.
2. The man could not get the treasure without purchasing the field; there was no sneaking around in the middle of the night to pull out the treasure. He wasn’t trying to steal someone else’s treasure he wanted to own it legitimately.
3. He joyfully sold all he had. Imagine the neighbors and his friends watching him cash out all he had and purchase a “worthless” plot of earth. “What a waste” they would have thought; that is until they started noticing his change in lifestyle.
4. The first thing he did was hide it. This is initially disturbing, because isn’t the kingdom of Heaven to be shared instead of concealed? I think the point of this is that he wanted to make sure he had all he could hold before sharing. He wanted to take his time and enjoy it at his own pace without someone interfering or spoiling it first. I believe God wants us to share out of the overflow of what we experience of Him. We can’t honestly recommend something for others we have not experienced for ourselves; God does not expect us to.
5. Where one looks is very important. Those who purchase metal detectors don’t just use them anywhere, they pick a place where they think the things they want are located. The Bible tells us in Colossians 2:3 that it is in Christ where all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
-fal
