Treasures in a Field

"“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

My pastor has been preaching a series around this verse for the last few weeks. It has been taught with an angle that has caused me to spend many hours contemplating this one seemingly simple verse. The kingdom of heaven is found here on earth through people. Therefore, each of us have a treasure which is hidden. Not everyone will see our treasure. Many of us would deny the existence of there being treasure within us.

For most of my life I would have been a person who would have argued with you over the value of who I am. I did not see where I had much of anything to offer that would be of benefit to another person. Much of this was because of the conditioning I had experienced as a child. I often felt overlooked and unworthy of true affection. What little treasure I thought I might have was being hidden deeper and deeper inside the dirt of my life. The field was growing larger with each year of life making it harder to remember where the treasure might have been.

When I truly began my Christian walk I found quickly there were people who reminded me I did indeed have a treasure. They wanted the benefits of my treasure and offered me ways that fit their needs to use the treasure that was there. What I learned was that unlike the man in the above verse who bought the whole field, most people only want your treasure and have little regard to your field. In fact, many people would prefer you not even acknowledge the existence of you field.

Have you ever driven past an excavation site? The content of the ground may be valuable, however the process of digging to find what is sought after can leave the area looking quite unattractive. In order to find gold, you have to be willing to go deep into the darkness to find what is most valuable. The same is true for each of us. It should also be true of those around us. In order to allow your treasures to be used, you need to ensure the benefactor is willing to accept your field. Fields are hard to deal with in real life and the same applies in the spiritual world. Fields can have rocks, sometimes even boulders. A few rocks we can move on our own, but the boulders require the help of others to move off our ground. The (family) trees in our fields can have deep roots. Some may be small and easy to chop ourselves, while others have roots going back for generations. These can take a while to uproot and are easiest when to uncover with the help of others.

You have a treasure inside of you. Your treasure is so precious that Jesus sold everything He had, His life, in order to purchase not only your treasure, but your entire field. He not only purchased it, but He did so with joy. Remember how valuable and precious you are to Him. Also remember the next time you are having a difficult time dealing with someone because of their field, they also have a treasure. Are you willing to help them find it?