Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – 1 Samuel 11-15
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 13:44
Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field. A crafty man found the treasure buried there and buried it again so no one would know where it was. Thrilled, he went off and sold everything he had, and then he came back and bought the field with the hidden treasure part of the bargain.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Jesus used some interesting metaphors to explain Himself to His listeners – farmers, seeds, weeds, coins, sheep, fields, and now a hidden treasure. All the things He used were familiar to those around Him. They understood far better than we probably do in our city bound service-age with all our technology. We don’t understand much about sheep or farming or plowing fields or pulling weeds. We don’t know much about seeds and planting and harvesting. Many of the nuances of Jesus’ parables probably pass us by because of our distance from the agrarian society in which He and His listeners lived. But that doesn’t keep us from learning from Him or finding out all we can about the culture of His day or the meaning behind His messages.
So what would you do if you happened upon something so valuable it was almost impossible to fathom its worth hidden in some obscure place? What if you were like the man in Jesus’ story? Would you gamble everything you had on that one treasure? Would you sell everything you had to obtain that treasure that you knew would make you one of the richest people in all the world? Would you plot to get the secret of its location and do anything you could to get that field or building or container that held the treasure?
I think if you’re like most of us, you would do exactly like the man in Jesus’ story. We would all like to be wealthy enough not to worry about where money will come from to pay tomorrow’s bills. We would like to have enough money to get the things we want. We would like to know our retirement is secure without worrying about what the stock market will do or whether Social Security will be solvent when it’s time to use it. Probably very few of us would just ignore the treasure if we found it.
So knowing all of us have this part of us that is somewhat like that man in Jesus’ story, why would he compare heaven to that hidden treasure? Let’s think about a few reasons. First and most obvious, heaven is a treasure. Heaven is worth more than we could ever afford. Even though the man in the story sold everything he had, he could never afford such a treasure. The only way he obtained it was because by selling everything, he was able to afford the field in which the treasure was hidden. The treasure’s value was beyond measure. So is heaven. There is absolutely nothing to which we could compare God’s home.
Second, heaven is hidden from the view of humankind. We can find it, but we must search for it. Heaven isn’t just given to us. God says, “Seek Me with all your heart.” He says, “Seek Me and you will find Me” God doesn’t make it difficult to find Him, but He wants to know we are interested in finding Him, too. He wants us to put out a little effort in getting to His kingdom. He doesn’t want our relationship with Him to be one-sided. He’s already died for us, we ought to be able to search a little to find Him.
Third, although we commonly use the word crafty as an adjective to describe someone with cunning, sometimes to the point of using evil schemes to get their aims, Merriam-Webster’s first definition is still skillful; clever. Continually and consistently in God’s word we find that wise men seek God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is found searching for and finding God. So the clever, skillful person is the one who seeks after God and meditates on His word to know Him better.
So here we are twenty centuries later listening to Jesus’ parables. What can we learn from them? We can still learn a lot if we pay attention. Heaven is worth more than we can imagine. It is worth giving up everything to obtain it, even yourself. Give yourself and everything you have to His Lordship. God wants us to find Him, but He also wants us to expend a little effort on our part. Anything worth having is worth working for. So get busy and do some searching in His word and you will find Him pretty quickly. Finally, it is the wise who understand just how precious and valuable heaven is and will expend the effort to get there. Will you show yourself wise by following God’s commands and letting Him be Lord of your life? Once again, it’s your choice. Make the right one.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.