S34P2 – The kingdom of heaven: priceless
Matt. 13:44
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.
One of my favorite episodes of Alfred Hitchcock presents involves a widow who puts her house up for sale for an astronomical amount. The house remains on the market for years until a gentleman from out of town comes and asks to buy it. He asks the widow to lower the price, but she does not budge. He then agrees to buy the house for her asking price, which is more than 10 times the actual value. No matter how much he liked the house, it made no sense for him to pay so much for it. But there was a reason he was willing to pay that price, and the widow knew his secret. The widow’s deceased son had hidden money in that house, and his former partner and murderer was sure to come looking for it. The widow knew that only this man would pay so much for her house because he knew the treasure hidden there. Anyone who knew how much money was in that house would have done the same.
The world does not see the value of God’s kingdom. In fact, many people are wearing blinders to the fact that his kingdom even exists. Those who watch the children of God operate under his system might see something different than what is actually there. Where we see freedom from sin, they see restriction of behavior. Where we see the privilege of sowing into God’s kingdom, they see their hard-earned money being taken from them. Where we see God’s love through his discipline, they see only punishment. Like the old, broken down house whose value is not evident to the naked eye, the kingdom of heaven is a hidden treasure that must be sought. When the value of that treasure is understood, nothing else holds equal value. Everything we could possibly give to obtain that treasure is still not enough. This is the definition of surrender to God. It is the moment when we realize how valueless all of our treasures are compared to God’s kingdom.
Scripture does not tell us that the kingdom of heaven is worth everything we could ever hope to have. Scripture tells us that this kingdom is worth even more than that. There is no way that we can calculate or quantify the value of complete surrender to God and the perfect life that comes from that. We are talking about living with God for eternity starting even now. This includes operating under his kingdom while living in this fallen world. However, we must remember not to be selfish with this treasure. It is sufficient to satisfy all, and our desire should be for everyone else to find this treasure, too. The next time we try to count the cost of following Jesus Christ, let us remember that no cost could ever be too great. Father, thank You for the treasure that is your kingdom, and thank You that we can experience it even now.