Friday, May 22, 2009

Treasure

The Kingdom of the Heavens is buried Treasure; would you sell yourself to buy the One you've found?

Matthew 13:44—"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

I love this verse, and talking about it in college group tonight brought it to the forefront of my mind again. It's a beautiful verse, but (because?) it's also incredibly convicting…

Do I treasure Christ as I should? As long as I'm immersing myself in the world, the answer is no. As long as my thoughts, actions, and desires are based on temporal things, the answer is no (1 John 2:15-17). As long as I'm running to a broken cistern instead of to fountains of Living Water, the answer is no (Jeremiah 2:12-13).

God, I want to treasure YOU above everything else, and IN everything else! I want to keep seeking eternal things, the things that are above, where Christ is seated… I want to continually dwell on—and have my heart breaking and rejoicing all at the same time—the sacrificial act of love that you did by sending Your perfect Son to die on the cross for my sins, to bear the punishment and wrath that should have been mine! Jesus, please grasp my heart and make YOU my TREASURE. I want to be the one who gives up everything, out of pure JOY, just to have You.

Thanks for listening as I preach to myself and struggle to put to death the sinful desires in my heart.

Some cool verses that also came up in conversation and such tonight—

  • 2 Corinthians 6:10
  • Colossians 3:1-3
  • Habakkuk 3:17-19
  • Genesis 4:6-7