Do you collect anything? Coins, sports memorabilia, old books or antiques? What would you consider the greatest, rarest, or most valuable thing that you could add to your collection, and to what lengths would you go to attain it?
I used to collect a certain Lego-ish type of set many years ago. If I remember correctly, there were about 7 or 8 individual sets in the collection and I had set my goal to acquire all of them. But as a seven year old me, my supply of money was rather limited, so for me to get the seven dollars and fifty cents that I needed to get a new Lego set, it took me a little while to collect. I might take some of my other toys to school and sell them to my friends, trade for things and then exchange them for cash, or I would scour the underneath of the car seats for loose change, until, at long last, I had enough to buy my set.
Set by set my collection grew, until I only had one more to get to have them all. But I couldn’t find it. Everywhere that I looked, each store that I checked, none of them had the last set that I needed. They had all of the other ones, but not that last one. In fact, I had almost given up hope that I would ever find one, until one day I was walking down a different aisle in a store and I found the last one I needed.
And while that last set was the same price as all of the others, I would have probably spent three times as much just to have them all, and this story is like the example that Jesus used in Matthew 13.
Matthew 13:44-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
The kingdom of heaven is a treasure of the highest value, of which we all should seek to obtain, regardless of the cost. To obtain it, we need to be able to give up things. We need to be able to deny ourselves the things which we otherwise may not want to give up, but we do, knowing that the reward for doing so is far greater than anything else.
That is the question that each person needs to ask themselves. “How much is the kingdom of heaven worth?” Could you give up the things which you own, and sell them all for Christ? Could you give it all away?
Matthew 19:16-22 “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.”
Do you see what was first in this man’s life? Do you see where his love was placed? For this man, the possessions in the world were more important to him than the things of God. They had such a hold on him that, even with the promise of eternal life, he couldn’t give them up. His treasures were his money and things that he owned, but a Christian’s treasure is in Heaven.
Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
So once again, what is the kingdom of Heaven worth to you? Can you give up everything to follow Christ? Can you make that great exchange?
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 