Easter: Grace That Changes Everythingਨਮੂਨਾ

Day 5: Treasure

Jesus loved telling stories. These stories, which he called parables, were metaphors about everyday life that explained spiritual truths.

Nestled among a string of parables in Matthew 13 is an interesting little verse:

"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, he sold all he had and bought that field."

I don't know when the last time you bought a field was, so let's put this another way. Suppose you found a rare trading card on sale for a few hundred dollars when it's worth thousands. Because that card is worth so much, you would sell all of the common cards you own to buy it. The parable is about exchanging things of lesser value for things of greater value. It is about the passionate pursuit of what matters most.

This story says what matters most is the kingdom of heaven. But what does that mean? Is it just that we get to go to heaven after we die?

Well, that's part of it. The kingdom of heaven is wherever God's presence remains, and it is characterized by eternal life. But look at how Jesus defines eternal life in John 17:

"Now this is eternal life: they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

Eternal life does include the afterlife, but that is just a byproduct of the abundant life we experience when we get to know God through Jesus. And because of the Easter story, because Jesus died and rose again, that ability to know God is extended to us now. You don't have to wait until you die to have eternal life. You don't have to be in heaven to experience the kingdom. God's presence can dwell with you now if you choose to know Jesus.

What do we "sell" in order to "buy" eternal life? We give up the other ways we try to find that life. We recognize that things like money, success, relationships, or self-gratification can never satisfy the longing in our souls. We admit that nothing and no one makes our lives make sense as Jesus does.

Death comes before resurrection, and through Jesus, we find the life we never could have made for ourselves. That's the Easter story.

Next Step:

Watch this video, Treasure, and think about these questions:

1. Have you ever given up something like caffeine or screen time and found out life was better? Where have you seen this dynamic of giving up something lesser to attain something more significant in your own life?
2. As you think about your life, are there any places where you feel God calling you into greater grace and freedom? If so, is anything holding you back? Ask God to help you let go of anything that's keeping you from experiencing the fullness of your life in Christ.

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