Hello everyone, this is part 3 of “Keep Your Eyes On Jesus”! I have been keeping the following two parables in my heart for about a week now because I was waiting for Him to go deeper with me. They are surely worth wasting your life for! What do I mean by that? Let us read the parables first:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
treasure hidden in a field,
which 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 great price,
went and sold all that he had
and bought it.”
(Matthew 13:44-46)
Do you recognize the pattern of “find – sell all – buy” in both parables? This just tells me the parables belong together.
I think the parables have two sides. We could think of them from our perspective, that we give up everything for our King and have immeasurable joy by it. Only those who have payed a specific cost before to follow Christ understand the joy of surrendering again and more to Him. It doesn’t feel costly at all, more like a heavenly reward! How could anything we give up here on earth compare to the joy of knowing the Lord deeply and spending eternity with Him; building kingdom together with Him, and being used by Him? Those who know, know! If you don’t but want to, tell God about your desire and trust Him that He will take you there! Take concrete steps and re-surrender again and again if you need to. I will be praying for you.
Moreover, God knows what our hearts beat for individually because He created us. Everyone has different interests and occupations. We have different things that we desire to do which truly satisfy us, and the kingdom of heaven has a place for every member of the body of Christ! It holds all that give us a sense of total fulfillment, as diverse as we may be. I think of Bezalel, Aholiab and all the artists in Exodus 31:1-6 who were filled with God’s Spirit to build the tabernacle and the ark according to God’s descriptions. How fulfilling it must have been for them to get all creative and professional for Him! Don’t you want that, too?
The second perspective is even greater, more beautiful – let me share another perspective from Enduring Word:
“The treasure so wonderful that Jesus would give all to purchase is the individual believer. This powerfully shows how Jesus gave everything to redeem the whole world to preserve a treasure in it, and the treasure is His people. … / … It seems crazy for a merchant to sell all that he had for one pearl, but for this merchant it was well worth it. That shows how much he valued this pearl of great price, and how much Jesus values His people.”
Most commentators view the man and the merchant in the parables as Jesus, and the treasure and the pearl of great price as us, His people. I have to chuckle when I read this, because we are always loved by God first! Do you believe that you were worth suffering and dying for for the Son of God? Do you believe that you are that one pearl so costly, that God would give up everything to just keep you? To just have you? What difference does this make for you? I believe that the more you believe in this message, the more you will give Him your everything, too! Why? Because you know He loves you and you love Him, too! It is not so much about counting the costs, but it is about relationship. It is about what He has done first, which motivates me to do everything for His glory. It starts with the identity that I am His one treasure worth giving it all up for.
So I rejoice.
I worship.
I praise.
I give thanks.
I partner with Him to make our dream come true. Your dream, Jesus, of us loving Abba and one another. So I keep my eyes on you in order to remember Your dream.
Even today. I keep my eyes on You.
Amen.
Blue Mountain Ministry 