My mornings begin, when done right, with a soothing cup of coffee and a longstanding engagement of getting to know God. Sometimes, I walk away from the encounter bolstered and excited about what’s next; and sometimes I walk away questioning my very nature and state of understanding. A few mornings ago, I felt like I was handed a question. I have been chewing on this question since it was asked, so I have decided to share it with you.
Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a treasure hidden in a field; which when a man finds it, he conceals, and for the joy of finding it, goes and sells everything that he has, and buys the field. (1) Or, like a precious pearl, with again, selling everything to buy it. (2)
The question I was asked, “What did you sell?” ”What was everything to you before you met Me?”
Often in church we camp out on losing our life to Christ or denying ourselves to follow, which is in Scripture; but how often do we nail down what that loss was to us? How often are we vulnerable enough to confess what we sold for that precious pearl? And even more vulnerable – how many of us are pawning off parts of that great field we bought to buy back some of what we’ve sold?
If you have not bought the field, well, this question is not directed at you; but for those of us who had that moment when we sold it all…well, let’s really nail down what we sold to make sure we aren’t trying to buy it back.
Jesus could have said that the kingdom of heaven was like a big ol’ gift of a pearl given to you from your Daddy, but he didn’t. He said, “..what shall a man give in exchange for his life?” (3)
We all know that there is nothing we own that could buy this kind of love and life, but maybe it is time to survey the cost.
(1) Matthew 13:44
(2) Matthew 13:46
(3) Matthew 16:26