“Risking All Wants To Acquire The Most Needful!”

“Risking All Wants To Acquire The Most Needful!”(Mt.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 pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
The above are two briefest parables of Jesus found only in Matthew. Respectively the parables have been named, “The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.”
Both parables are similes.
A simile is a figure of speeech that compares two things in an interesting and vivid way with the use of “like” or “as.” The Lord Jesus Christ used similes more often in describing the kingdom of heaven (God) – rightfully so because, of all people who inhabit the earth within time and space, he alone is from there, has been there, and even now, he is there. Only through similes can the kingdom be vividly described for it to be interestingly comprehended.
Brief as these two parables may be, let us consider a bit of some literary analysis of Parable 1 only.
The hidden treasure in the field belongs to neither the man who finds it nor the man who owns the field. When the man found the hidden treasure, “he hid it again, and then “in his joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.”
Critical minds may wonder what if after he had sold everything and bought the field he discovered that some other person had found and dug the treasure? By the way, what was he doing in somebody’s field to the extent of discovering the hidden treasure? Was the fieldowner such a lazy landowner who hardly walked through his field or worked his field? We do not have look to the stars for answers. The answer is within you!
When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, he replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation…the kingdom of God is within you”(Lk.17:20-21). Paul asked, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”(I Cor.6:18a).
Dear friend, here is the secret of “Eureka” – I have found it! When you find it, nothing becomes priority again. Knowing the Lord more and more and the power of his resurrection becomes your utmost priority. The Lord Jesus Christ becomes the top on your scale of preference as more and more you become less worried about your wants and become more concerned with Christ your need.
Even to the fool who says in his heart that there is no God, enlightenment is within him too, as it is within everybody and in every heart. The spark of God is always there waiting for your discovery. And when you get to that enlightenment, rid your heart of all that stand against the search for God; then make Christ the centrality of your life.
Earlier on, and in plainer language the Lord Jesus Christ says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things that you desire will be given to you(Mt.6:33).
Dear friend, the economists tell us to differentiate between needs and wants. Needs are essentials of life like food, shelter and clothing. Wants are things we can live without. While we agree with the economists about our needs, we add the unseen needs which we cannot do without. The air we breathe is a priority need, and if that is so, a top priority need is the One who has given us that air to breathe.
We must be willing and ready to risk our wants to acquire the most needful!
Prayer: Thank you LORD for igniting your spark of presence in us through the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Prayer point: Pray for spiritual awakening.
Rev Babila Fochang.