The Treasure

Article Written by Pastor Phil Bray

What does love look like? What does faith look like? How do you know if you actually love God? How do you know that you truly believe in Jesus Christ? Are these different actions of our heart? We love what we value, prioritize, and prize as precious. We love what we fight for, what we strive to lay hold of. We believe, that is, we have great confidence in the value of a particular object or person, and so we leverage our lifestyle and choices in order to be around that person, to find some way to interact with them. You see, the object of our love or faith is really our treasure. What our heart treasures—that is our God.

Jesus once said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field” (Matt 13:44). The kingdom of heaven, life with God, is like a treasure. It is something of inestimable worth. It is virtually priceless. This treasure is so rich, so life-changing, that the man who found it quickly buried it again and then went home and began selling all he possessed in order to gather up enough money to purchase the field in which the treasure is located. Does all this sacrifice of stuff cause him grief, sorrow, or regret? Does he mope around in dejection, depressed over all that he is losing in order to acquire the priceless treasure?

No! In fact, Jesus said, “from joy over it he goes and sells everything”! His motivation was sheer, unadulterated joy! You can almost see him rubbing his hands together excitedly as he smiles from ear to ear with each possession sold. Why? He recognizes that the treasure in the field is far more valuable, far more wonderful, far superior to any current possession he owns! There is nothing he owns that is worth the treasure! He would gladly part with a dirty penny in order to secure a ton of gold bars!
When you and I love Jesus, when we believe in Jesus, it is like that. We have seen Jesus as He is. We recognize the supreme and uncontested value that He holds over all else that exists, and we gladly, joyfully part with anything we need to part with in order to lay hold of Him! You see, love for Christ, faith in Christ, is like treasuring or valuing or delighting in Jesus! It is not a sad and sorrowful affair! Denying ourselves and sacrificing even our very lives is something we do with joy because we value Jesus more! Look at what Paul wrote to the Philippians! He says death is better than living because that means he can depart this world and live with Christ (Php 1:21). Knowing Christ is more valuable than any other relationship, status, or possession in this world (Php 3:7–11).
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Loving Jesus, believing in Jesus, at its very base, is wanting Jesus more than you want anything else. You cannot love God and the world at the same time (1 John 2:15). The question is, who or what do you value most of all? Do you want Jesus more than anything else? Is He really the treasure you would gladly and joyfully part with everything else in life to obtain?