“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 went and sold all he had and bought that field.” -Matthew 13:44
It’s unique. It’s difficult to describe. It is hidden to the naked eye, but no map leads us to it. It’s present in everyday life, yet the general public doesn't recognize it. Jesus tells us it is incredibly valuable and promises that when we seek it, we will find it. If we scratch below the surface, the kingdom of God is there.
The life we lead has been shaped for us. The forces that reproduce it in us are ubiquitous. Media shapes our lives, magnifying political concerns to make us afraid while warning us that our trust is the only way to feel safe again. If we can escape media messaging, marketers are ready to fill the void, promising that their products will give us their version of the good life. On those rare occasions when we live outside of their grasp, we find ourselves alone with our discontent. But our own hearts can’t be trusted to take hold of “the life that is truly life,”1 damaged as it is by broken relationships and unhealed wounds.
We do our best to make a life in this malaise. Don’t accept the life that is in front of you. Seek something greater.
I have loved holding my breath underwater since I was a child. My worries would wash away beneath the surface as my heart reflected the calm of that underwater world. I longed for that peace to continue, but every time I sank into that water cocoon, I knew that I would have to surface again to find myself immersed in the world created for me.
But what if Jesus is right? What if something really is buried beneath the surface of our lives that changes everything; a way of life that enhances my experience underwater while on dry land? The parable above is just one of ten times Jesus set his mind to describe this other way of life.
It feels the same, he says, as the joy of finding something we have been looking for all of our lives. It is like our fiancée saying “Yes” to marriage, like landing that dream job, like learning that we are having a baby. In these situations, our joy energizes us to eagerly change our lives to receive the gift we have just been given.
Don’t settle for the life in front of you, a life promoted by those who do not have your best in mind. Keep looking for the way of life Jesus describes. Keep seeking the experience in the parable above. You will find this treasure. Jesus promises we will:
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Jesus, Luke 11:9-10
1 Timothy 6:19.