Hidden treasure and the percious pearl

• 

Details

Published on Wednesday, 07 July 2010 02:00

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of a great price,  went and sold all that he had and bought it " (Matt. 13:44-46 NKJV).

I don’t know how precious the Kingdom of God is for you. Jesus equated it to the treasure, which was worth it; so that a man would sell all that he had to get it. Notice that he couldn’t buy the treasure. Forgiveness of sins and “justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" are the attributes that cannot be bought. He had to buy the field where he found the treasure! I believe that it symbolizes repentance, in which you sell “all that you've got “to be able to gain access to the treasure which God gives you by grace.

Perhaps the field is not attractive at first glance. Maybe it was not on the top of the list of real estates, maybe it didn’t have the best location or quality of an arable land. Yet Jesus equates the Kingdom of God to the treasure, which when a man found “for the joy goes and sells that he has and buys that field."

When we believed in Jesus, some of our friends or relatives did not understand the joy which were experiencing. It seemed to them that our enthusiasm was not adequate to the “field" that we bought. Maybe they’ve seen a number of deficiencies, they’ve met Christians, that didn’t behave according to the gospel, were disappointed from the ministry of priests or pastors or simply didn’t like the change in our lifestyle at all. In one respect, it is understandable - they did not know that in that field lays a priceless treasure.

Jesus began to explain the parables of the Kingdom of God to his disciples with these words: " It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven " ( Matt.13:11, NKJV ). I don’t want to talk here about some sort of exclusivity, but the fact remains that every Christian has become an "administrator of the mysteries of God."  We were given such grace that we could see the treasure of the highest value on that field. No wonder, that we experience joy “unspeakable and glorified.” It's like the story, which refers to a Romanian Pastor Wurmbrand where a deaf man who found himself in a bunch of dancing and merry people. He watched them for a moment and could not understand the reason of their joy. He only shook his head in disbelief and went his way, thinking his own thoughts. What that man could not hear was the music that made those people dance.

Everyone is looking for pearls in his life. We are looking for happiness, something that makes sense for life. The kingdom of God is also like a man who was on that road of searching until he finally found one pearl that was precious. It seemed so precious to him that once again he sold all that he had to buy it. Is the kingdom of God still that precious pearl for you? Moses was raised in the palace and was called son of Pharaoh’s daughter, was a prince of Egypt and had all the privileges that resulted from that position. However , after he recognized God’s calling, it is written of him that he was " choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasure of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." (Heb.11:25, 26 NKJV). Moses became truly great only after he began to follow God's calling. If you lose your life for the gospel, to your surprise you realize that you’ve actually found it. You will find reward that was worth all sacrifices you had to undergo on the way on the narrow path.