Fools Gold

Fools Gold

When I was young my uncle invited us to his land in Oregon. He had a cabin and little creek and hills behind the cabin. It was so pretty.

He had a gold claim on that land and it was assayed to be good enough to work and make money. For a few days, we panned for gold on the creek. My uncle gave us little jars and we found a little gold dust. It was so cool especially for an impressionable little kid like me back then.

Then my mom, brother and I, we walked up the road up the hills. We saw white quartz and little bits of shiny gold on the quartz! We knew it was iron pyrite on the quartz but it still was so pretty! We picked up so many rocks. I had a t-shirt inside my hoodie and I took it off and tied the sleeves and filled the t-shirt with these rocks.

My uncle took us to a river in oregon and we panned for gold there too. He had a small sluice box and he was able to find 3 flakes of gold. He told us that each flake was probably $5 dollars and he showed a jar with many flakes that he had found (may have been an oz of gold).

Before leaving, we ended up not having room for them all so we threw them down. They were pretty but ultimately they were worthless!

At night we would look out the window of the cabin and we could see eyes looking back at us. They were deer of course and they were just as curious about us as we were of them.

To this day I still would like to go back to that same location and spend a week RV camping out of there and gold panning. It made such an impression on me that I’ll never forget.

So what did we find up there? We found fools gold. It had no value really. The only value was the experience for me really.

The only reason I would want to go back would be the beauty and the nostalgia, since there

really isn’t much of any gold to find on that property.

I mean, sure it was beautiful, but if I wanted to really dig for gold it would not be there.

These days people go looking for value in all the wrong places.

There are a lot of things that people feel are important to them and not important to them.

Finding Real Treasure:

Matt 13:44 (finding treasure)

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.

If you find a real treasure, it’s like you can’t live without it! You’ll do anything to get it.

In this case, this man found a treasure but he knew he couldn’t just take it. To get it, he had to buy the field. It was worth selling all that he had to raise enough money to buy the field to get it.

When faced with heaven or hell, some people carelessly float through life and never stop to think about how to get one while avoiding the other.

If you really want one thing and really don’t want the other, take a moment and if you don’t know the answer, do your due diligence and figure it out! Your eternity is at stake.

Matt 13:45,46 (pearl of great price)

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

This merchant knew that if he bought the pearl, he could sell it for much more.

He stood to make a sizable profit if he bought it.

If something valuable is there in front of you, and could even make you rich, do you seize the opportunity, or do you just turn and walk away?

Jesus is so much more than a valuable pearl. He could save your soul from hell and give you a home in heaven. That’s worth more than all the pearls ever!

Salvation is more than you could ever afford, and yet Jesus’ Salvation is a gift, you only need to accept/receive/take it, you don’t even have to work for it.

Finding Fools Gold:

Luke 12:16-21 (the folly of things)

16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. 17 And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. 19 And I will say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”?’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is demanded of you; and as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’ 21 Such is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in relation to God.”