Matthew 13:44-46
“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.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
I have been doing some thinking on this verse in response to some life situations as well as some thoughts by Dallas Willard where he writes:
“These little stories perfectly express the condition of the soul in one who chooses life in the kingdom with Jesus. The sense of goodness to be achieved by that choice, of the opportunity that may be missed, the love for the value discovered, the excitement and joy over it all, is exactly the same as it was fro thsoe who were d reawn to Jesus in those long-ago days when we first walked among us…
Only with such images can we correctly asses the famous “cost of discipleship” of which so much is made. Do you think the merchant who found the pearls was sweating over its cost?”
With these thoughts in mind…my question is this:
What makes choosing a life of following Jesus worth selling all we have? What makes someone say, “This is the way i have been living, now that i have found such a valuable thing, i am going to choose to follow Jesus.”
Have we presented a life of the Christ follower, that would make someone want joyfully give away their current life for something totally different?
Now, I know that this life we have chosen is, but have we really presented it in such a way that people see this? Or, are we just giving them a way out of hell? (Which of course is good, but I think it is an incomplete view of following Christ).
More questions than answers right now…