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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Genesis 43-44
Matthew 13:36-58

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Matthew 13:44 (CSB): “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

Imagine walking across a field when you stub your toes on something you obviously didn’t see. Notwithstanding the searing pain you are now enduring, your curiosity compels you to learn what you stumbled on. You notice what appears to be the top of a buried wooden chest.

You drop to your knees, dig around the wooden box, and eventually pull it to the surface. The lock that kept it secure has rusted, so with very little resistance, you open the lid. To your surprise, you are looking at gold coins—hundreds of them! Maybe even a thousand or more! In your mind, you quickly come to a guess that you are looking at well over a million dollars!

If you took even one single coin from that box and claimed it for your own, you would be a thief. The box was in the field, so it is owned by the person who owns the field.

So, you come up with a plan. You are reasonably poor, but you suspect that if you liquidate all of your assets, you may have enough to buy the property. And when you purchase the property, you will own the chest and all the gold inside it. In your mind, it is more than worth purchasing the land for a few thousand dollars to gain at least a million dollars!

Jesus used this parable to describe an aspect of the Kingdom. He is NOT saying that it would be right to conceal such a large matter from the landowner. Instead, the primary point of the parable is this: being in the Kingdom of Heaven with all of its joys and blessings is worth whatever it costs to gain it.

So, to gain Heaven, what should we liquidate to get it? What can we give up?

Ourselves!

This parable calls us to realize that getting into the Kingdom means giving ownership of our lives to King Jesus. We give up our self-autonomy. We belong to Him. And as we do that, we gain infinitely more! We gain all of the treasures of Heaven. But even more importantly, we gain Him! We get to enjoy our God through the remainder of this life and forever in the life to come. It is so worth it!!!

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you study the Scriptures so that you will see the surpassing value of knowing and enjoying Jesus (Philippians 3:8).
  • Ask God to help you yield even more control of your life to Him, understanding that what you get in return is more than worth it.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into this parable, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“How is heaven like treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44)?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)