Treasures
Imagine treasuring something so much that you would be willing to give up everything else for it.
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." - Matthew 13:44-52
What Jesus is talking about here is not so much about finding a treasure as it is about knowing the treasure is there, somewhere.
It is in the field, so he buys the whole field. If he does happen to find the pearl of value, he will buy that, but he also casts a huge net to catch all that swims in the sea.
The discovery of what is good and what is bad happens later.
It is the work of God in His Kingdom, to sort through all that He has to find what is good. And that becomes the treasure.
It makes me think that there are things that are necessary in this world to sustain life, to keep the whole system working. But some of those things are not treasured or useful to us.
We cannot eat them or sell them to others who treasure them. They exist to keep everything in check.
Some of those things are harmful to us and we seek to avoid them, but we don't always succeed.
It is in our human nature to try to eradicate what we consider to be harmful or evil, but what would happen if we succeeded?
Would the world continue to be a place of life?
In the end, the true treasures of this life are alive. They are not the pearls or the things buried in the ground. They are the ones we love, the ones who will be here only a short time and then be gone.
Maybe we should sell all we have and buy a moment of time with them while we can.
More to come...