challenge

 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 listened to a devo recently about the treasure hidden in the field.  It happened that as I was listening in my car, I was noticing the beauty of the fields.  In the midwest, we are in harvest season so the fields are busy and changing.  As I drive around the county for my work, I notice the fields and the changing seasons daily.  I appreciate the seasons of planting, growing, harvesting and the winter season of rest.  I value the work being done here, to grow and harvest and feed the world with what our farmers know and grow and what our fields produce.  

    My devotional talked about the treasure in the field, the harvest of human souls.....sharing the gospel of Jesus and saving Grace....and my thoughts and prayers turned to the sent workers of our church who are striving to share the gospel with those who do not yet know about Jesus....and I lifted them up yet again.  I listened in my heart to God and wondered with him about my influence, my impact, my work, my field.....and God reminded me again that the kingdom of heaven is a treasure hidden in a field......and my field is literally my days.  

    I see that many days my eyes are not fixed on Jesus...and my heart is heavy with all of the hardness and brokenness all around me....and how is anyone to see the kingdom of heaven as a treasure in me?  How am I to show that I love it so much that I will sell all I have to go out and buy that field and secure that treasure?  Oh goodness.....oh Great God.....if I am looking to the world I just cannot seem to see the kingdom of heaven as a treasure.....and it is indeed a treasure....because it is the greatest and forever inheritance of all that can not be attained here on earth.  Lord God help me not lose sight of the treasure or deny the power and potential of the field that holds it.  

    In my moments of seeing and knowing and learning and listening that day, the author of the devo (from Lectio 365) said this.  "The challenge for me is to not let people who have not seen the treasure talk me out of buying the field."  

    The phrase stopped me in my thinking and learning and I had to pause and write it down so that I would not forget it.  The challenge for me is to not let people who have not seen the treasure talk me out of buying the field or the pearls and distract me with the daily grind of the world. 

    Some days, that field, or those pearls are being an advocate for my child who doesn't have the ability to defend themself.  Some days, it is extravagant generosity for someone who doesn't deserve it.  Some days it is on my knees in prayer for someone who is suffering.  Some days it is just getting through the day and asking my adult daughter to pray for me because parenting a girl in jr high when girls are mean is just too, too much.....and knowing that this child won't just listen but she will pray.....for both of us.  

    If the world has not yet seen the treasure, they have no right to talk me out of buying the field, or claiming the pearls....and in my head, in my narrative, I can tell a story that says they can.  If I listen to what is being said all around me.....I may even forget that the treasure is in the field....and decide not to go out and sell all I have to buy that field.  I may forget that the pearls are worth having and choose to not go after them.....because they are not of this world.....thank goodness I'm not of this world either....and I am destined to be a field owner of the greatest treasure and an appreciator of fine art who knows the value of pearls....because God himself created me this way.  

    He created you this way, too.  

    So lets consider the challenge to not let people who have not yet seen the treasure talk us out of buying the field.....