The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. -Matt 13:44
Friends,
God is good all the time.
In a remarkable series of parables, Jesus heightens His instructions about the significance of the kingdom of God and challenges His disciples to make it their topmost priority and value. The series of parables, which almost concludes with the parables of the treasure and fine pearls that were discovered and purchased after those who discovered them sold all their possessions to acquire them, suggest that we value the kingdom and increase our quest to be part of the kingdom.
Understand that to the Christian, these parables were intended to sharpen our imaginations: imaginations about God, our imaginations about heaven, and our imaginations about how good it is to discover God now and in the future when we are united with Him in heaven. These imaginations, only Christians can possess. Now I want you to know that the Kingdom of God has a structure. The structure is a relationship with God. But part of the structure is also the relationship with the members of the kingdom, as well as the joys and the rewards that emanate from the relationship.
In the parable of the treasure and the pearls, Jesus convinces us that everything amounts to a zero value for the human soul when contrasted with a relationship with God and relationship with others. "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose the soul?"(Mark 8:36). Then in Matt 25: 35-36, He adds, "I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you took Me in. I was naked, and you clothed Me, I was sick, and you looked after Me, I was in prison, and you visited Me."
So, think about the lasting relationship we will have with God and the saints, and all those who will make it to heaven and keep building this lasting relationship. Your relationship with your wife, husband, and family should matter for you to stake your life upon it. Your relationship with your friends and neighbors should be of value to you as well. The good news is that when it comes to relationships, neither poverty nor riches is the condition for it. It is the human heart, which is something we all have equally.
I like to conclude by contrasting two men, Jesus and Alexander the Great. The fearsome and revered Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia and later the then known world, considered himself the spiritual son of the Zeus. He died at the age of thirty-three after unparalleled accomplishments. But today, only traces of him remains in the history book.
Three hundred centuries after, Jesus came as the son of God and died at the age of thirty-three. But, over two thousand years later, the world remembers Him. The world still has religion because of Him. I tell you that if Jesus never came to the world, the world would be without religion by now. It is this Jesus who teaches us to value lasting and true relationship. And we should remember that the only thing that endures forever is an authentic, lasting relationship that is treasured in the heart.
Prayer blessings: Lord, thank you for entering a magnificent relationship with us to save us. Amen.