"The kingdom of heaven is like a 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 the field." (Matthew 13:44)?
Many people would ask what the hidden treasure was or how much what he found was worth. Is this treasure centuries old? Golden goblets with rubies encrusted on the lip? Or maybe a chest full of gold pieces and emeralds? Or maybe a gently folded cloth covering extensive amounts of real pearls?
We all try and put a value on the hidden treasure, but in Matthew it doesn't say what the treasure was, only that it was so valuable it was enough to sell the own man's life for.
But it doesn't end there.
It says that "In his joy [he] went and sold all he had and bought the field." JOY. Do we even know what that means? He was overcome with something far greater than just plain happiness. He was overcome with joy.
You know those times that you're so happy, tears start to seep into your eyes and you start crying? That's my picture of joy. Something that isn't only shown from a facial expression, but is shown from the inside out. Something that is displayed in a person's body language, tone of voice, brightness in the eye. This man was joyful.
But think about it. If you saw a guy that was insanely happy (aka joyful) while selling his house, his car, and all his possessions along with it, you would think the guy was either mentally unstable or on something. Am I right? You would wonder, 'what is wrong with that man?' since our culture condemns such radical behavior. But shouldn't we, as Christians, be like this man? A person who is so sold out for Christ that we should disown all we have here on earth; that we should count everything as if it were nothing in the comparison to our Savior?
If that's what we should do, then why is it so culturally unacceptable to do so, even within the 'Christian' society? We should have a faith that draws people to Him, not a repelling personality that drives people away from ever having anything to do with Him.
Our lifestyle -actually, our whole person -should scream the love of Christ and a hunger to grow in our relationship with Him. If that is the case, our money, our houses, our cars, our computers, our jobs, our iPhones, our social status, none of that has real value in our life; for we, as children of the Most High, count our worth in Him and Him alone and He is worth not only our livelihood, but our entire life. Therefore, with joy we follow Him, trusting His leading completely.
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