“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44).
This short parable is very different from the parables that it follows. This one and the next one (next week’s devotional) speak of how highly the King values the people of His Kingdom. In this parable:
- Field = world
- Jesus = man
- Treasure = read on to find out….
It helps to understand this parable to know that under rabbinic law if someone found a treasure in a field and lifted it out, it would belong to the field’s owner. Therefore, in the case of this parable, when the man (Jesus) found the treasure, he bought the field (the world) so that the treasure would be his. The man, being Jesus, valued this treasure so highly that he sold everything he had (his life) in order to purchase the land and therefore, this treasure (Blue Letter Bible-David Guzik)
Not only did Jesus purchase the field, giving everything he owned, he did it with joy! Just think of it, God loves us so much that he has given his Son, his only begotten Son, to purchase our eternal life, and with joy!! You are God’s treasure. As Charles Spurgeon put it, “So did Jesus himself, at the utmost cost, buy the world to gain his church, which was the treasure his desired.”
Our circumstances can vary from person to person, from day to day. Our reactions and emotions can fluctuate, seemingly for no reason. But some things do not change. God’s heart for us, his beloved creation, has not and will not change. “The Lord appeared to us from afar saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love…’” (Jeremiah 31:3).
So how do we respond to His love and pursuit? “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). As staff of Nashville Rescue Mission, you are laborers of love, following Jesus’ example. God is love. He enabled us to love. He has commanded us to love. He gave his life for his treasure. And therefore, by his example, we see that “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13).
I am doubly blessed, both by God’s love for me and by how I witness your love for each other and those we serve. May God bless you.
In Christ,
Judy
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