A Year with Jesus

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved of the Father,

You are a child of God; so I want to open your heart to hear two incredible truths found below in two simple stories that I told long ago.

Truth One:

You are the Father's treasure! Yes, I know that is not normally how the two stories below are read, but I want you to think about it for a minute. There is a truth that you must not miss behind this understanding of these stories. The Father sent Me, His greatest gift, to pay the price to ransom you back to Us. You are Our treasure - Our discovered treasure and Our searched for treasure. I was the willing purchase price paid to buy you back from sin and death.

Truth Two:

The kingdom is the greatest treasure you can ever find. For some, it will seem like an accidental and great discovery as in the first story - almost like the treasure found them! The key, however, is that when you have "accidentally" discovered this treasure, then you should be willing to give up everything else to make it your own! Others, as in the second story, will find the treasure of the kingdom because they have longed to find it and have searched far and wide to find it. Again, the key is that having found it, they rejoice in giving up everything else to make this treasure of the kingdom their own!

Notice the truth that ties these two understandings together: true treasure is worth any price necessary. That is true with the ultimate price I paid in coming to redeem you. It is also true for the price you must be ready to pay for the kingdom if you are willing to follow Me!

Verses to Live

What is your greatest treasure? I made clear that you are My treasure when I left the Father's side and came to give My life to buy you out of slavery to sin and death and to reclaim you as a child of God. Will you choose to see My way, My kingdom, as your greatest treasure?

Jesus:
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field. A crafty man found the treasure buried there and buried it again so no one would know where it was. Thrilled, he went off and sold everything he had, and then he came back and bought the field with the hidden treasure part of the bargain.

Or the kingdom of heaven is like a jeweler on the lookout for the finest pearls. When he found a pearl more beautiful and valuable than any jewel he had ever seen, the jeweler sold all he had and bought that pearl, his pearl of great price.
(Matthew 13:44-46)

Response in Prayer

O Father, all I can think about in response to these stories is Your great love that sent Jesus to ransom me and Jesus' great love to come and pay the price for my sin. The words to the old hymn speak the emotions of my heart in response to this great love:

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.*

May the lordship of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven rule my heart just as the sacrifice of Jesus has captured my heart and made me Your child. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

* From Isaac Watts' hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," 1707.