. . . speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:3
In Matthew 13:44-45, Jesus again gives two small back-to-back parables that speak of some foundational kingdom realities. First, He speaks of the kingdom of heaven being like a treasure in a field, and when a man found it, with joy he sold all that he had to purchase that field. The next parable tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, and when he found one of great price, he sold all that he had and bought it.
The first parable speaks of the value of the kingdom. The second speaks of what the kingdom finds valuable. In the first parable, the kingdom is hidden in the dirt of a field. Hidden beneath its dirt, a normal, natural, everyday field holds a priceless treasure. Jesus is teaching us the kingdom is not immediately noticeable. There must be some searching, and if you want to see it, you might have to get dirty. But it is of more value than anything we might give up in order to find it.
Underneath the dirt of our humanity lies this priceless treasure, waiting to be searched out and found, waiting to be dug up and pulled to the surface. The treasure is worth the digging. We must be actively digging through the dirt of our lives and find the treasure in the field.
Not only do we have the kingdom in us, but so do others. As we live life, we may, like the man, stumble on this priceless treasure in others—people whom God has been preparing and who may need help digging to find the treasure in their own field. To help others find, dig up, and pull to the surface what God has been actively doing in their lives is one of a disciple’s greatest privileges.
In the next parable, Jesus says the kingdom is like the merchant, not the pearl. The kingdom is the one looking for the pearl, and when “he” finds it, Jesus says he sells all that he has for it. Jesus gave His life for the church, His bride. Jesus saw in humanity a “pearl of great price.”
These fundamental kingdom realities are very simple: the kingdom is valuable, the kingdom is hidden, and to find it, one may have to dig. Do you believe that God has placed the kingdom inside of you? If so, what are you doing to dig for it? Do you believe that the treasure will find its way to the top without your involvement? Do you believe that digging in your field to find the treasure that Jesus has put there is selfish? How are you actively participating with what God is doing in you? Are you helping others find and dig? Would you ask God to teach you to dig, both in your life, and in the lives of others?
A retired Christian businessman took his wife on a vacation to Hawaii. They swam, ate some fine food, and relaxed on the beach. But one of his favorite things to do was to search the beaches for buried treasure. He rented a metal detector, and while his wife shopped, he would cover entire areas of the beach finding little treasures.
Oh how he loved it when he heard that wonderful sound in his earphones—beep, beep, beep! He would throw the detector down and, like a pirate, pull out his knife and begin to dig with all his might. Usually, it was only small change or bottle caps, but it was more about the thrill of the hunt.
As they were loading the bus taking them from the hotel to the airport, he was reminiscing about all that fun they had had, but especially about the metal detector. As he was thinking a local sat down next to him.
“Hi,” the local said.
“Hello,” the retired Christian businessman replied with a smile.
“I don’t understand kids,” said the man to the businessman. “My oldest daughter, who just finalized her divorce and has two children to raise by herself now, just called me and said that she went to some church small group, I think she called it, and is born-again. Do you have any idea what born-again means?”
The retired Christian businessman became nervous inside as he heard the man’s question. And then something happened that made him smile. It was like deep down in his spirit he could hear “beep, beep, beep, beep.” There was hidden treasure in this field.