Spiritual Wealth is a simple concept. Knowing that Jesus has forgiven our sins is more important than anything else in the world. Or as Jesus puts it so eloquently, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) I don’t think any Christian could disagree with our Lord. The parables at the end of Matthew 13 would seem point out that this simple lesson needs to be learned well.
The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price are different only in how the person came to possess the kingdom of God. The man with hidden treasure accidentally came upon it. When he realized what he had, he gave up everything to have it. The merchant searching for the pearl knew what he was looking for. When he finally found it, he gave up everything to have it.
The very next parable (remember, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning) talks about the net full of different kinds of fish. Jesus doesn’t hide the ball at all from his audience. The reason the treasure and the pearl are so important is because there will be an end to the world and the righteous and the wicked will be separated. There is urgency to our spiritual wealth.
As we heard in our first lesson from 1 Kings 3, God wants us to pick spiritual wealth. He promises to bless us in this life. The striking point of this is that we aren’t tempted with $5000 a day for the rest of our lives. We are tempted by a moment of pleasure here, an hour of overtime there. Instead of giving up everything for spiritual wealth, we kick it to the curb in exchange for so much dust and ashes.
Want to hear more, including the story of a modern day treasure hunt that just came to an end? Watch this Sunday’s message taken from Matthew 13. The Christian Seeks Spiritual Wealth.
Book(s): Matthew
Series: The Extraordinary Ordinary Christian
Tag(s): evangelism, Stewardship
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg