2001-10-25 - Buried Treasure

2 Cor 4:7-9 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. (NAS)

Sometimes I make the weirdest mental connections. This past weekend I took my filthy white car to the local car wash. When we got to the entrance, my son and I hopped out and started collecting all of the loose junk that had collected in the back seat. I had a small armload of junk that I deposited in a trash can. An employee asked me if I wanted the inside vacuumed, and I said yes.

He ran the powerful suction over the seats and pulled out the floor mats and started to beat the dirt out of it. He looked back in and laughed and said that I might want to take a look for myself. When I looked in where the mat had been there was a large collection of change. There were so many coins it took both hands to collect the little escapees from my hip pocket. I thanked the man and we had a good laugh at the size of the collected pile of coins. I left a good tip in the box at the end of the car wash that day.

As I was walking along with the car going through the process of being cleaned up, I was thinking back to the day I had to borrow five dollars for lunch. It was ironic because I had the money in the car to buy my lunch and didn't realize it. I owned the promise of lunch, but was unaware of that fact so it was useless to me.

Thought of all of the promises that Jesus has given to us both glorious and difficult and thought of the number of Christians who own these promises but are unaware. They own an enormous store of spiritual food, but they don't know it. Likewise, we hold the keys to a treasure the world cries out to have, but again - through ignorance, fear, misinformation or indifference - they refuse to take hold of the promises.

Jesus will one day make and end of death and pain. There will be no more suffering and all tears will be wiped away. Yes, there is judgment for all of us both believer and unbeliever, but for the believer our eternity with the Lord Who loved us enough to come and die for us is certain. There is no way to earn it. That life is freely given to anyone who will ask. Yes, there are a few strings - repent or turn away from sin. But this does not have to mean that all the fun is sucked right out of life. There is enormous joy in knowing that forever is surely kept by Jesus Christ, and He wants to have a personal relationship with us. There is peace in your heart that can not be explained by words, but must be lived out.

The treasure is endless. All the vaults of the world could not contain the wealth of these promises. They are not gold or silver, but trust and peace of heart and mind. They can not be stolen, but must be given away and shared to truly be enjoyed. Share the treasure. Think of that the next time you hold a little change in the palm of your hand.

Grace & Peace,
Mike

mhoskins@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org