Maybe you are familiar with the story that Jesus told, in which He described a man who found something. It’s called the parable of the hidden treasure. Here it is: “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.”
Most of us have always heard this story to tell us that heaven is something we need to give up everything for. It’s so valuable, so impressive, so extravagant, that nothing else compares to it, and that we should abandon everything else to attain it.
I think that is true, mostly. Eternal life with Jesus will be fantastic, no doubt. As well, I think we know that we can’t buy our way into heaven. No matter what we give up, it’s not really going to get us to God. Only Jesus can do that, not our good works or our sin-avoidance. Still, we mostly see the heart of this parable as giving up everything so that we can go to heaven.
Can I share with you how I see this parable? I’m not saying that this other way is wrong, really, but I see the story differently.
I am the treasure in the field.
I am the thing of value. God saw me, in my mess and my foolishness, and He wanted me. He wanted to love me. He wanted me to know Him. So He made a way for me to know Him. Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth to show me who God was, and to make a way for me to know God. Jesus, who gave up all the comforts and pleasures of heaven, who gave up all the rights and privileges of being God, stepped onto the earth as a man.
The best part of Christianity is not that we went looking for God; it’s that God came looking for us. The faith is much less our looking for Him – after all, He’s not the one who’s lost. The faith is much more His looking for us.
Can you picture God as getting excited? Can you picture enthusiasm on His face when He finds you? God smiling, laughing, rejoicing, running towards you, throwing His arms around us, kissing, holding you with delight.
You are his treasure.
Most of us have always heard this story to tell us that heaven is something we need to give up everything for. It’s so valuable, so impressive, so extravagant, that nothing else compares to it, and that we should abandon everything else to attain it.
I think that is true, mostly. Eternal life with Jesus will be fantastic, no doubt. As well, I think we know that we can’t buy our way into heaven. No matter what we give up, it’s not really going to get us to God. Only Jesus can do that, not our good works or our sin-avoidance. Still, we mostly see the heart of this parable as giving up everything so that we can go to heaven.
Can I share with you how I see this parable? I’m not saying that this other way is wrong, really, but I see the story differently.
I am the treasure in the field.
I am the thing of value. God saw me, in my mess and my foolishness, and He wanted me. He wanted to love me. He wanted me to know Him. So He made a way for me to know Him. Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth to show me who God was, and to make a way for me to know God. Jesus, who gave up all the comforts and pleasures of heaven, who gave up all the rights and privileges of being God, stepped onto the earth as a man.
The best part of Christianity is not that we went looking for God; it’s that God came looking for us. The faith is much less our looking for Him – after all, He’s not the one who’s lost. The faith is much more His looking for us.
Can you picture God as getting excited? Can you picture enthusiasm on His face when He finds you? God smiling, laughing, rejoicing, running towards you, throwing His arms around us, kissing, holding you with delight.
You are his treasure.