A letter from Anthony...
I was recently doing some minor repairs on my mother’s house in Orange. And so, before I left Ariah Park, I tried my hardest to think of everything that I might need to do the job. But when you’re working away from home, there always seems to be something that you overlook. On this project I forgot to take my sander.
At home I would have used an electric sander and completed the project in half the time, but having left that sander at home, I opted for the much cheaper option of buying a sanding block and sandpaper. Now buying a bit of sandpaper isn’t a big deal, it’s not that expensive. You work out what the best deal is, and then make your purchase without giving it another thought. But when you know that you have a whole stack of sandpaper sitting at home, all of sudden that simple pack of sandpaper starts to feel a lot more expensive than it really is. But even though I was reluctant to buy more sandpaper knowing I already had heaps at home, I knew I needed it for that job, and so I valued it enough to buy some more anyway. How much we are prepared to pay for something, will depend on how much we value it.
Jesus explains in 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.’
Jesus doesn’t tell us how the man came upon this great treasure in the field, nor how the merchant came across the incredibly valuable pearl, but however they happened upon these items, when they found them they were filled with such great joy that they went away and sold everything they had.
I don’t know about you, but selling everything I have would be hard. I have things that remind me of loved ones who are no longer with us, and other things I would miss if they were gone. And yet there was nothing that these men kept back, they sold everything in order to obtain their prize. Why? Because they valued it more highly than anything else they had.
What are the things that we value the most? I’m sure we all value having a roof over our heads, our family and friends, along with lots of other material blessings that we all enjoy. We all value our health and our safety, and the safety of our loved ones. But if all of that was taken away, as it was for Job, would we be able to say, 'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' Job 1:21
If the hope we have in Christ Jesus is our greatest treasure, it will be our greatest treasure when life is going well, and even when it is not. Jesus is the treasure that is worth giving up everything in this life in order to hold onto, because the hope we have in Jesus is the only thing that will remain when everything else is gone.
What is it that you value most?
In Christ, Anthony
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