“The kingdom of heaven is like 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.” Matthew 13:44
When I was a kid, the thoughts of Christmas morning were almost more than I could contain. It was the one day of the year when I knew there would be a variety of gifts with my name on them. Of course, I always got a birthday present or two, but it was nothing like Christmas. Christmas was the best, or at least that’s how I built it up in my mind starting right after Thanksgiving.
I remember going through the Christmas catalog from Service Merchandise looking at all the great things you could get. I’m talking pages of stuff that any red-blooded young boy would die to have. I bet many of you remember doing that or watching your kids do it. Anyhow, I would get in my mind how great it was going to be on Christmas morning when all the deepest desires of my heart would finally be fulfilled. Sadly, however, that never happened. Not that my parents didn’t try, mind you. But something always went wrong.
Like the time when I wanted a set of electric race cars on a track. I had visions of racing my car around the track and beating whoever it was that ran the other car. The only problem was that in my case, only one track worked. It worked really well. I could run that one car around the track at blazing speed. But it doesn’t take a lot of speed to beat the other car that doesn’t move. So a bit disappointing.
But not to worry, there was always next year. When next year came around, I hinted and hinted and hinted that I really wanted a new bicycle. In my mind, I could envision it. It would be candy apple red with high rise handle bars, a banana seat, hand brakes, and best of all, it would be a five speed. I would be the envy of the neighborhood.
However, like the race track from the year before, it didn’t exactly work out like I’d planned. When I got up on Christmas morning, there was a bike waiting for me under the tree. A hot pink bike, with foot brakes and just three speeds. Hot pink! Do you know how hard it is to pretend being excited about a gift when you’re not? And it didn’t help matters that my good friend got a bike too. Want to guess what color? How many speeds? Yep, a red five speed. I was back to waiting for next year.
It’s all about desire – what we really, really want. Unfortunately, most of us focus our desires on things that don’t have a chance of delivering the goods. Even if every desire on our Amazon wish list was met, somehow it still wouldn’t be enough. For that we have to look elsewhere.
Jesus talked about that a lot. In fact, He told a story about it that you’ve probably heard more than once. It’s found in 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.”
What a great story. Here’s a guy who’s probably plowing a field trying to scratch out a living when he unearths a hidden treasure. We’re not talking about a few coins or jewels. We’re talking about a game changing treasure. If he could have that treasure, his life would never be the same again.
But in order to lay rightful claim to the treasure, he first has to own the field. So he sells his house, holds a yard sale, gets rid of his vintage Mustang, liquidates his retirement accounts, empties his safety deposit box and more. He unloads everything in order to buy that field.
“Wow,” we think. “That sure is a lot to sacrifice.” Well, we may think that, but he doesn’t. No, the story says that he was full of joy while he was getting rid of all of his stuff. Why? Not because he didn’t like what he had, but because of the overwhelmingly greater value of the treasure in the field. What’s a few hundred thousand dollars compared to a billion? Chump change. No, this guy is not a hero, not a man of great sacrificial commitment. He’s simply a guy who knows the value of what he wants and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it.
According to Jesus, that’s what the Kingdom’s like. That’s the kind of life God has for those who can get past the blinding light of this world and see the value of it. When they do, when they see the kind of life that they always wanted but never could quite seem to get their hands on, the desire for it becomes unstoppable. They will do anything to have that life. No sacrifice is too great, because in the end, it’s not really a sacrifice at all. To have the life that you were made to live is of such value that it’s worth everything you have to get it.
Again, it all goes back to desire. So let me ask you, what do you want for Christmas? I’m not talking about something you can get at the mall or order online. I’m talking about something far more valuable than that. You might find it helpful to take a piece of paper and write down the following question: What do I really want my life in God to be like? Underneath it write down what you think that might look like. I’m thinking about the kind of desire that you’d be willing to do whatever it took to get it.
It could be many things like:
• to be free from worry about how others think about you
• to no longer be driven to get more and more stuff – to be content
• to overcome some addictive behavior
• to live in peace with others or maybe to be at peace period
• to be less driven
• to wake up in the morning with a sense of joy and expectancy
• to no longer dread the next stage of life
These are just some examples. You can write down anything you want. Again it’s about desire. What do you really want in your life with God that it would be worth everything to get it? You’ll probably want to spend some time with this list over the next few days. In fact, you may want to make it a center piece of your prayer life, because that will help your desire to grow.
This Christmas I hope you get what you want – what you really want. You won’t be disappointed.