Unearth Your Value

At the age of 32, I have found that whatever you place value on, is where your heart will always lead you.  When you value another person, your feet have a hard time staying away from them.  If you value your education, you’ll find studying easier and more beneficial.  If you value God’s Word, you’ll find that making time to read your Bible is not a chore, but an opportunity.  This seems like a simple truth, and yet it has proven to be a barometer to show me when my priorities have shifted from positive to negative things. 

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Notice, your heart always follow your treasure.  Whatever you value (treasure), your heart will find its way there as well.  Understanding that, did you know that long before Jesus died for you, God looked at you and called you treasure?  If not, then I hope by the end of this blog, your understanding of His value on you elevates!

So, let’s dive into it!

The Parable

 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

Matthew 13:44  NIV.

Jesus’s disciples once came to Him and asked Him why He used parables so much when He was speaking to crowds of people.  It would make more sense to be as clear and transparent about the things of God when speaking to the masses who may not be so “theologically” inclined.  Jesus’ response was astonishing.  He told them that He spoke to the masses in parables to hide the truths of God’s kingdom from them.  Anyone can come to God and receive things on the surface, but when a person pursues Jesus for everything that He is, to that person, God gives the greater truths that bring about the fullness and wholeness that can only be found in Christ.  So as we break apart this simple parable, keep in mind that only the Holy Spirit can unveil to you the revelation hidden within.

Many times in Jesus’ parables, a “field” speaks of the nations of the world, so keeping with this consistency, He says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who discovered a hidden treasure in a field.   For years this parable was taught to me as if I was the man.  And like this man, if I wanted to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven, then I (like this man) would have to “sell everything” (abandon my hopes and dreams for the future that I wanted) and follow Jesus. 

My Reflection

Even as I’m writing this, I can see now more clearly why my generation struggled so much with sin and obeying the Gospel.  Following Jesus was always conveyed as a lifetime of unfulfillment and unhappiness.  There was a stereotype when I was a kid, that if you told the Lord that you wanted to follow Him, He would send you to some part of the world that you didn’t want to be and you would spend the rest of your life regretting the decision in your while you outwardly tried your best to make the most of it.  Again, it’s no wonder that my generation ran from the Gospel as fast as they did, and many of them have such a hard time coming back home.

The number one problem with teaching that indicates that we are the “man” in the parable is that the focus is put entirely on us.  The idea that is presented is that if we want to receive all that God has in His kingdom, then we should sell everything.  We should give up everything.  The focus is entirely on us.  But I have good news, the Gospel is actually not about us.  Paul in Romans 1:16, presented a Gospel that was all about Jesus and how He saved us.

I personally believe Jesus is saying that HE is the man in the parable.  Instead of looking at what we can do to save ourselves, we are to look at what He did to save us.  He gave up heaven and earth to save us.  He traded heaven’s glory for the filthiness of humanity.  He gave up royalty to be a Servant.  He was cut off so that we could be brought into the family.  God rejected Him at the cross in darkness, so that we would always be accepted in His light!  No we are not the man in the parable.  Jesus is!

Hidden In A Field

Keep in mind that the man in the parable discovered the treasure hidden in a field.  In order to “find” it hidden in a field, that implies that the treasure was probably hidden in the dirt.  I love the vast pictures that Jesus paints with the simplest of statements, because when He found us, we were dirty, filthy, covered in our sins.  And yet in our sins, He called us treasure.  Some people only see your worth and value when you become beneficial to them, but with Jesus, He called you treasure while you’re still covered in filth. 

You see with Jesus, He doesn’t focus on who are at the moment.  Instead He focuses on what He can transform you into.  In the first statement that God made to Abraham, He declared to him that he would be a father of many nations, and yet at that moment Abraham was nearly 80 years old with no children!  When the Lord encountered Gideon He declared to him that he was “mighty man of valor” and yet Gideon was hiding for fear of the enemy.  God never focuses on who you are at your present.  Instead He focuses on who you will be with His undeserved favor!

Jesus following the Old Testament example changed Simon’s name to Peter.  While carrying the name Simon he lived up to its meaning: a reed tossed back and forth by the wind.  But Jesus started calling Him Peter because He focused on the day that His grace would manifest on him, and instead of being tossed back and forth, He knew that Peter would stand and declare boldly the Gospel and change the world.  I may not know what personal faults you have at this moment, but be certain of this, God sees what you will be, and He wants you to be encouraged because to Him, you are gold!

Buying The Field

There’s SO much more I want to share, but I have to close, so let me leave you with this thought.  Jesus ended this parable by saying that the man who found the treasure hid it again, sold everything that he had, and then bought the field! 

If some of us were honest, if we were that man who found the treasure in a field, we know that we would’ve taken the treasure with us, and kept it to ourselves as to where we found it!  But Jesus is showing us how God operates.  God is not dishonest. No, instead of just taking the treasure, He sold everything he had, and bought the field.  Whether the field is good or bad is irrelevant to the fact that in order to have you, He had to buy everything else as well.  I love this because it speaks to the heart of God.  In order to have you He had to pay for EVERYTHING.  It cost Him EVERYTHING, and He now He owns EVERYTHING, but He has you!  You were worth it, and you still are.  In Christ your value will never diminish.  Your worth can only increase. 

Beloved, begin seeing yourself as the treasure you are.  Let me encourage you to begin seeing yourself so valuable that God Himself traded heaven to have you.  And as you begin to see your worth, take heart knowing that where His treasure is (you), there His heart is also. 

Enjoying His favor,

Matthew