What is it Worth?

Matthew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.



44 Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν θησαυρῷ κεκρυμμένῳ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, ὃν εὑρὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔκρυψεν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτοῦ ὑπάγει καὶ πωλεῖ πάντα ὅσα ἔχει καὶ ἀγοράζει τὸν ἀγρὸν ἐκεῖνον.

This is another of Jesus' parables about the kingdom of heaven.  He is trying to explain to His disciples what it is all about.  I think what we're supposed to get out of this is that it is something extremely valuable.  He does this with a parable that we can relate to very easily.

Let's suppose that you were given an offer where you could have fifty million dollars if you could come up with $150,000.  Obviously you would be skeptical of the offer because get rich schemes are too good to be true.  But then let's say that you got this offer from a source that you considered entirely trustworthy.

Looking around my house, I think I would do everything I could to come up with the money.  First, I'd mortgage my house as far as I could.  I'd sell both of our vehicles.  I'd sell my guitars, my pool table, our fine china, our TV, our computers, the Wii, the PS2 and all its games, and all our furniture.  I would do whatever it took to raise the money.

Why would I be so eager?  I would know that ultimately the payoff is much greater than the loss of stuff.  So it is also with the kingdom of heaven.  If there is something that we won't give up then we don't really understand what the kingdom of heaven is all about.  We may give lip-service to it, but really we don't believe the promise.

This is not to say that we have to become monks.  But if that is somehow God's call on our lives then we need to be ready for that.  Of course, discerning that call is another story, but the point is that we need to be willing to leave it all for the sake of the kingdom.

How about you?  Writing this is difficult as it convicts me.  I can come up with this nifty illustration, but am I living it?  Probably not as much as this parable would dictate.