When someone decides that they like something enough to start collecting them, very often they will be willing to spend a decent amount of money on it. There may be only a few years in which a certain special item was made, and they might have all of those years accounted for except for one, but because they desire to have the entire collection they may be willing to spend three, four, five times as much as that thing is worth, because to them it is well worth their investment to complete their collection.
It all comes down to what something is worth to someone. What are they willing to do to obtain it? The Lord Jesus spoke a parable similar to this 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.”
Can you give up everything to follow Christ? What is the Kingdom of God worth to you?
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
In Christ,
Andrew
tlkjbc.com
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 