Picture This! Buried Treasure Series

I have always been a car nut. When I was fourteen I asked my dad if he was going to buy me a car when I turned 16. He told me that if I wanted a car, I had better start saving for one. So I did. I worked hard all summer helping to paint houses and stuck every penny I could into a savings account so that when I turned 16 I would have the coolest car in the world to drive around in. When I turned 15 I took my drivers permit as soon as I could and began driving with my parents in the car. I enjoyed driving but let’s face it, it’s hard to look cool and pick up chicks in your moms station wagon.

So I kept saving. Birthday money was banked, Christmas money was banked, and the money I received from lawn mowing and delivering papers was socked away. One day my dad came home from work and told me that a friend of his rebuilds cars and had a beautiful little red and black car that I should go look at. So I grabbed the keys, jumped into the family car and waited for my dad to join me so I could drive us there.

When we arrived at his friends house there was a black and red two door hatchback quietly resting on the side of the garage. With the giddy of a small child on Christmas morning I approached the car for an inspection. But long before I actually inspected it, I knew that this little baby was mine.

My dad and I negotiated a fair price for the car then dad’s friend said that it wasn’t quite done yet so I would have to come back in a couple of months. I could hardly wait to get my hands on the car but it was a good thing he needed more time to fix it because I didn’t have all the money anyway. So for the next two months I worked and worked and saved everything I could so that when the magic moment came I would have enough money to pay for the car.

When I saved up enough money my dad took me over to the man’s house to pick up the car. She was a beauty. It had everything I had ever dreamed about, four tires, a windshield, doors, and the promise of unlimited freedom lurking just overt the horizon.

After paying for the car I fired it up and realized that it was a stick shift and I had never driven a stick shift before. Somehow I managed to drive it home and even thought I stalled it at every intersection I was the proudest 15 and ¾ year old on the road that day. When we got home I just sat and drooled over my very own brand new used car. I had spent everything on something that was of great value to me. I washed it and waxed it and treasured it because I wanted a car more than anything else in the world.

Jesus wanted to let everyone know how valuable the kingdom of God is so he put it in such a way that everyone listening would understand. Jesus is continuing his talk to a large number of people who are seated on the side of a hill. He is out just a little ways from shore explaining that the kingdom of God is more valuable than treasure or other material objects. In Matthew 13 Jesus says:

44"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.

There didn’t used to be any banks so ancient people used to take their money and treasures and bury them in the ground. It earth was their safety deposit box. Late at night they would hide their treasure so that nobody except the field owner would know where it was buried. But on occasion the owner of the field would die or have something else happen and someone else would come across the treasure. The point here isn’t buried in the story, the point is the story. The point is that is you find something of value you will do anything to get it.

This was common occurrence to everyone who was listening to him, but just to make sure they got it, he said it another way.

45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-45 NIV

What’s the point? The point is that the kingdom of heaven is so valuable that a wise person will do anything they can to get it. A wise person will take everything they have and give it up for something even better.