What Makes You Beautiful: A 7 Day DevotionalНамуна

The Better (and Best!) Treasure

Ready for a pop quiz? What is the more beautiful option in each comparison:

1. Pebbles or pearls?

2. Weeds or water lilies?

3. Trash or treasure?

This wasn’t a hard quiz, was it? Many of us would agree that pearls are more beautiful than pebbles, and that water lilies are better than weeds!

Jesus once told a story about a man who discovered a treasure in a field. Do you think he would have wanted trash instead? No! He knew that what he had found was beautiful—better than anything else. So he sold everything he owned and bought that field (Matt. 13:44).

In our verse today, we see how nothing can compare with knowing Jesus: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). Christ is better and more beautiful than even the most lovely, wonderful earthly gifts! And a growing relationship with Jesus is better than anything and everything else.

So far, we’ve seen that what makes you beautiful isn’t your outer appearance, your talents and abilities, or how well-liked you are by other people. All of these are good gifts—but none of them are better than treasuring with Jesus, our beautiful King and Rescuer. He is the only one who can change our hearts, and he says that knowing him means more than anything and everything else!

Jesus is our best and most beautiful treasure. Just like the man sold everything he owned to buy the field his treasure was buried in, we want to pursue knowing Jesus above all else. He is our beautiful reward. How do we do this?

We dig into his word, the Bible, where he speaks to us. This is how we get to know Jesus better and grow in our relationship with him. We read and listen to his words just like we would spend time with a friend and listen to him or her.

We talk with him through prayer, when we speak to him. If you spent time with a friend but never talked to her, that would be weird, wouldn’t it? Jesus wants you to speak to him! This is called prayer. You can talk to Jesus just like you would a close friend.

Knowing Christ is better than everything else, dear one. A relationship with him is what makes you beautiful.

Let’s pray. Jesus, you are my treasure! I want to know you. Speak to me in your word, and help me talk with you in prayer. I want to pursue you always, knowing that you are better than everything else. In your name I pray, amen.