Each week approximately 14 million people tune into the Antiques Road Show. I am one of those who watch it on a semi regular basis.
In 2009 a woman in North Carolina brought in a Jade collection her father had brought home from China somewhere between 1930 to 1940. It turned out to be worth $1.07 million dollars.
On other episodes, a man and his wife brought in an oil painting which had been given to them as a wedding gift. It depicted the Grand Coulee Dam as it was being built and was valued at $500,000.
Still another episode introduced us to a man with another oil painting. The man's great, great, great, Grandfather had purchased it and it dated back to 1847. The painting was of the second most famous 19th century politician, Senator Henry Clay, standing next to Abraham Lincoln and was valued at $300 - 500,000.
But even cooler than all of those would be the discovery of a first edition of the Gutenberg Bible. It was the first book ever to be printed in 1456. There were several hundred copies originally printed but finding a first edition would net you $25 - $35 million dollars. A single page would net you $25,000 which is no chump change either. Several years ago just one volume of the two volume set sold for $5.5 million.
Most people can only hope to find one of those valuable treasures and a lot of people will spend most of their time thinking that if they could just get a "lucky break" like those people on the show that they would be set for life.
But..., as rare as all those things are, there is something far rarer and infinitely more valuable than all of those things combined.
Since that first printing, the Bible has been translated and printed into almost every language on earth. It is consistently ranked as the number one best seller year after year and also for all times, with over sixty billion copies having been printed since that first printing in 1456.
Because of that, for those with a collector mindset, to take a Bible to the Antiques Road Show for an appraisal would be silly. There are billions of them in print and you can get them in every secondhand store for a few cents. In fact there are all kinds of charitable organizations that give them away free to anyone who asks. Abundance has a way of devaluing things so the Bibles we have in our possession may not net us very much money.
However: it is what is in the Bible that is the rarest of all finds no matter if you obtain one for free, purchase one at a second hand store, or pay top dollar for one at Barnes and Noble.
In Mathew's Gospel Jesus said; "...narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
You might say; Wait a minute!! Millions of people have a copy of and read the Bible as attested to by the billions printed and sold, and you are telling me that few find the treasure of "Life" contained within its pages?" ABSOLUTELY!!! Now you are getting it!
That "Life" is the treasure hidden within the pages of the Bible.
Note the rarity of those who find that life Jesus spoke of.
With 60 billion Bibles in print you would think that finding the life it offers to the reader would be more common, but that is not the case.
So what is it that makes finding that life difficult? Jesus said; "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." Not willing to come to Him? Why? In John's Gospel Jesus is recorded saying; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Notice the exclusivity of the life he offers.
And to further aid us in discovering that treasure he says; "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
In his second epistle the Apostle Peter explains to us that everything that pertains to this "Life" is given to us through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Where but the Bible will one find that knowledge of God and Jesus?
This life we see spoken of within the pages of the Bible is rare indeed. Despite a nation where "churches" are abundant, that life lies buried in the homes of multitudes of church goers and religious people.
It is not that people do not read their Bibles or know where they are at any given moment.
It is the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things which keep it hidden from our sight.
Not understanding the treasure within its pages allows the enemy of our soul in to steal what you could have had. Hard times and the commitment needed to mine the treasures of life through personal discipleship choke whatever life one may have, out of us.
But regardless of all that, that Life waits to be discovered and given the value in each of our lives that it deserves. It is priceless. All the wealth, power and prestige one can gather during the brief time we have in this world could never purchase such a priceless treasure.
But God, out of His desire to share such a treasure with you and I, risked everything to provide every man women and child ever born with the opportunity to possess that Life.
In the book of Job we find this profound statement; speaking of God Job said: "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."
Treasuring what one finds written with the pages of the Bible is one of the secrets to discovering that rarest of all treasures.
And the Apostle Peter when faced with a choice as to whether or not he would continue trusting and following Jesus, surrendered to Him and said; “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Where else in all the books of the world are you going to find someone, anyone who promises what is promised in the Bible by God via the writers of the most incredible book of all times?
The answer is; absolutely nowhere.
You are certainly welcome to try.
However, your search will end up in more permanent disappointments than any temporary success.
If you stop for a moment and think about it, not one of those "treasures" which are brought into the Antiques Road Show are really worth anything if someone who could afford them is not willing to pay the price for them. And even if it is offered no one can possess the wealth offered for them unless they are willing to give up the "treasure." The same is true for our lives.
Because of sin, they are completely worthless unless the price of sin is paid for by someone who could afford it. And we see in the Bible that God is the only one who could pay the price. If we accept the price offered by giving up our life to Him we will find that life, which is priceless by our standards, but affordable to God and freely offered to us. Why not take it from those who have experienced it and shared those experiences in these writings along with the countless others like them, myself included and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
If you surrender your existence to the one who died to give you life, you will discover the profound truth echoed by all the Gospel writers when they quoted Jesus saying; "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
