Today’s Bible Reading:
Genesis 41:17-42:17
Matthew 13:24-46
Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 4:1-6
Today’s Bible Verse(s):
Matthew 13:44 (NLT): “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.”
Reflections on Today’s Bible Verse(s):
When Jesus used the phrase, “Kingdom of Heaven,” he was speaking of His Kingdom on earth. He is King Jesus, and every person, who receives Him as their Savior and Lord, becomes a part of the Kingdom. In the Kingdom of Heaven (on earth), we live in submission and obedience to King Jesus as we enjoy Him and the life He has given to us.
So, as Jesus spoke the words that I have chosen as our verse for today, He was telling a brief story to help His disciples understand what the Kingdom is like. In essence, He was telling them what it is like to live on planet earth as a Jesus-follower.
Matthew 13:44 (NLT): “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.”
Please allow me to retell this story, adding in some details to paint a picture of what Jesus was describing.
A man was walking through a field one day. He needed to get some supplies, so he had walked to the nearest city, made his purchases, and now was on his way back home.
Even though the sun’s rays beat mercilessly down upon him, he was enjoying the walk. It gave him time to reflect. It also allowed him some time to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation around Him.
And, of course, he had his staff with him. The long stick would come in handy if some ill-intentioned animal mistook him for food. In the meanwhile, it served as a stabilizer as he walked on uneven ground.
As he walked, he entered the field of a farmer who he did not know. He neared a lone shade tree in the middle of the field to get a momentary respite from the sun’s heat. Under that tree, his staff pierced the ground … and hit something. His ears told him that it wasn’t a rock. The “thud” sounded very unusual.
His curiosity got the best of him, and he thrust his staff into the ground again. There was another “thud.” He dropped to his knees and began digging into the ground with his hands.
A box appeared beneath a thin layer of sand. Someone had obviously buried it … but what was in it?
As he opened the box, his mouth dropped. It was filled with gold coins. As he looked around to make sure that no one was watching him, he took a quick tally and realized that the wealth in that box was exponentially greater than everything he owned. In fact, the coins he held in his hand could easily purchase his home, his furniture, his donkey, his clothes, and everything else. But the box was filled with handfuls and more handfuls of coins.
What was he to do? To take the box of immense wealth would be theft. The box wasn’t his because the field wasn’t his.
He knew what he would do! He closed the box, put it back into the ground, covered it up, and ran home. He didn’t have enough money to purchase the field, so he put everything he had up for sale. After selling everything, He would have the funds to buy the field. Then the box and its wealth would be his.
When he told his wife that they were selling their house, she panicked. She wondered what would possess him to do such a reckless thing. Then he told her that they were also selling their animals, clothes, and everything else, too. She thought he had lost his mind. It didn’t make sense to her.
But it made perfect sense to him. When he sold everything he had, he would use the money to purchase the field. When the wealth in the box belonged to him, his financial worth would go up exponentially. When the field became his, he would take the treasure and purchase a much larger house for his wife. He would provide even more beautiful clothes for her. There would be plenty of money to do just about anything they wanted to do.
The temporary loss of selling everything was worth it in light of the incredible wealth they were going to gain.
Here are Jesus’ words again:
Matthew 13:44 (NLT): “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.”
That, my friends, is how Jesus described the Kingdom of Heaven. If we truly realized what is ours to be gained by entering the Kingdom, we would readily release our claim on what this life offers.
Far too many “Christians” are living for this life. They are getting all they can, canning all they get, and then sitting on the can. Jesus calls us to live differently.
Does this mean that we sell everything and take a vow of poverty? Nope. Instead, it is a call to not let our possessions possess us. Jesus is our Lord, our boss, and everything else is outside of us. Our possessions and everything we have that this world offers are at Jesus’ disposal.
Because if we truly realized what is to be gained by being willing to give up so much of the stuff that we chase after, we would gladly do what the man in Jesus’ parable did. These final words from Jesus’ mouth would also make much more sense.
Mark 8:34-36 (NLT): “Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?’”
Matt’s Musings 