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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 that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13: 44-46
Much of our Christian life is like this: forsaking the many – the things of this world – for the One in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).
In leaving go of so many things on this earth for the sake of Jesus, there is bound to be fear and anxiety. We know the Gospel is a worthy goal, but that doesn’t make it any easier through the trials and tribulations this life has to offer. We only know that goal as in a dimly lit mirror, for now do we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13: 12).
And so while the day is coming when we will know in full, what sustains us while we travel? What gives us provision while we pursue the treasure or the pearl?
For we know that once we have grabbed hold of that prize, sanctifying grace has had its way in our hearts, and we stand before our Savior fully glorified, we will have neither want nor worry ever again. But what shall carry us on until that day?
Notice our man from Matthew 13:44: When he found the treasure in the field, he went away and in his joy sold all he had for the sake of obtaining the field. In the original Greek text we can see that the man did not manufacture joy in his being or go looking for joy, but that the treasure in the field caused him to have joy.
The prospect of selling all he had to own the treasure was the very cause of his joy. The treasure was so great that it had the power to sustain him in the pursuit of it as well as provide for him once he obtained it.
There was joy inherent within the task of forsaking all in the name of obtaining the One. This was not a task taken begrudgingly or with mere obligation, this was the a cause of joy beyond which the man had never known.
Kierkegaard had it right when he said purity of the heart is to will one thing:
Father in heaven! What is a man without Thee! What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know Thee! What is all his striving, could it even encompass a world, but a half-finished work if he does not know Thee: Thee the One, who art one thing and who art all!
So go, go on your way and be willing to seek the One thing. The prize awaits you, and while it will indeed provide for you one day, there is joy to carry you through in the meantime as well. Seek Jesus Christ almighty today and find peace, purpose, and perseverance in His grace. Pursue Him with all your might, and He will provide.
Be encouraged and of good cheer, for the Lord knows you and knows what you need, and He does not disappoint.
When we speak of Christianese, “the Gospel” is one term that gets tossed around quite a bit. But what is it, exactly? And what does it do?
According to Romans 1: 16, the Gospel is the power of God:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Now this passage makes the Gospel sound like an event – the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes; the Gospel is something that happens in a one-and-done fashion. But is that all?
We read in Colossians 1: 3-6 that the Gospel has an ongoing role as well:
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
In reading here, we see that the Gospel also has an effect similar to a journey, there is an ongoing effect whereby the Gospel is bearing fruit and increasing as time transpires.
In Christianese, we can speak in terms of justification (event) and sanctification (journey). In justification, at the event of salvation – an individual recognizes his need for a savior, that his sin has made his entrance into the presence of God impossible.
Once the individual has received the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ as penalty for his sins, he begins a life of continual transformation, where the Holy Spirit is daily conforming him to the image of Christ; this is known as sanctification.
There is danger in viewing the Gospel exclusively as either a one one-time event or a journey on which we walk; to view it as the former is to see salvation as a get-out-hell-free-card that allows us to live our lives apart from obedience to God, and to view it as the latter is to ignore the real and pressing need that our sinful hearts actually be made new by the grace of God.
Life for the Christian is not “easier” or “better” in terms of earthly experience, but it is a life that finds fulfillment, completion, satisfaction, and purpose in the love, grace, and truth of Jesus Christ.
Praise God for both the opportunity to be made new through the blood of Jesus Christ in justification and for His ongoing faithfulness in providing the means by which we are conformed to His image in sanctification.
Woe is he who speculates until he is blue in the face about what exactly God would have him do, for he who speculates so much he never actually gets to the doing!
Many a liberal theologian has used the analogy of the blind men examining the elephant, each looking at a different part (ear, tail, foot, etc), and then arguing that their experience contained the essence of the elephant. While I have particular disdain for this analogy (for the reason that all paths DO NOT lead to God as the analogy implies; Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father apart from Him), I still find it somewhat helpful in this case.
To be so heavenly minded so as to be of no earthly good finds expression in this analogy: after the blind men examined the elephant, they began to debate whose experience contained the essence of the elephant. Now they were still debating the nature of the elephant some time later, but it had grown weary and wandered away from them!
And so it is for us Christians: I fear far too often we debate over the slightest of issues, only to find ourselves so wrapped up in that very debate we forget to put our faith in action.
Now I am not talking about the essentials of Christianity:
Jesus Christ is the son of God
Salvation is through Christ alone, by grace alone and through faith alone
The Bible is the Word of God, divinely inspired and authoritative for our life.
God is a triune God: 3-in-1 and 1-in-3, representing neither poly nor pantheism.
These things are surely worth debating over, for they are the strong tenets of our faith, the very foundations of it, and are necessary to fulfill the role of the Church as the custodian of the truth.
Conversely, other issues are not worthy of such heated debate, and yet we still find ourselves consumed in their mire, too afraid of offending or being offended. And so we pridefully, stubbornly, miserably stick to our guns at the expense of the body of Christ.
I am not arguing for ecumenalism at the expense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Truth; I am instead begging for a focus on the essentials and expedient action for the sake of His kingdom on other issues.
I am arguing for a steadfast gaze on the face of our great and mighty king, and as a result our life will be radiant with the reflection of His glory.
Oswald Chambers said it best:
“Christian workers fail
because they place their desire for their own holiness
above their desire to know God”
Desire to know God, to see His face and pursue Him always, and our lives will reflect that. Follow His lead and fear not, for He will lead.
Focus not so much on what you do or who you do it to, but on Who you are doing it for.
The issue is not so much what you do as it is who you are.
i spoke recently at a gathering, a college fellowship i helped start during my undergraduate years.
things went….poorly to say the least, as far as i was concerned.
it was great to re-connect with old friends and spend time with brothers and sisters in Christ, but my talk left much to be desired.
in looking back i see how i was fully prepared: outline, notes, Bible references, funny stories, real-life illustrations, practical analogies, etc.
yet no matter that i was prepared, i didnt fully prepare myself. my heart and my spirit were not ready to share God’s truth. i was unaware on that night of the privilege and responsibility sitting on my shoulders.
i gave no time or energy to hiding myself behind the cross, that the students would hear Christ. i gave no real time or energy in prayer – either for myself and my words to be His, or for those who came that night and listened.
i approached the evening flippantly and lazily; i spiritually just wasnt ready.
which makes me think….am i burdened with the Truth of the Gospel?
why did i need to cultivate a special preparedness that evening within my spirit? granted there will always be some preparation needed for a engagement of this nature, but why was i caught so off-guard and unprepared?
am i – in even the slightest fashion – prepared to share the truth of Jesus Christ with those around me?
is my heart in a constant state of readiness? am i so aware of the life and joy inside of me that i could at any given second spout forth of the blessings God has seen fit to bestow in my life?
do my attitudes and my actions communicate to those around me in solidarity with my spirit? does my life exhibit Jesus Christ risen and alive inside of me?
too often, i fear not. which leads me to ask….
am i truly burdened with the Gospel?
