“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

– Matthew 13:44 (ESV)

I have heard this passage many times and simply skimmed over it, never really stopping to process what it actually meant.  A man found a treasure and was smart enough to sell all he had in order to buy the field.  Got it.  Moving on… but there is so much more here.  While reading Radical by David Platt, I got a whole new perspective on this verse and I want to share it with you!

When the man found the treasure in the field, he couldn’t believe it.  It was more treasure than he could have ever imagined! He knew exactly what he had to do; sell everything he owned in order to obtain the treasure.  Selling everything he owned for what seemed like any old field would have seemed to have been crazy.  I know I would have thought that he had lost it.  But, he didn’t care, because he knew that it was worth it.  It was worth everything.

Platt explains it this way, “You know that in the end you are not really giving away anything at all.  Instead you are gaining.  Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way.  So with joy – with joy! – you sell it all, you abandon it all.  Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything else for.  This is a picture of Jesus in the gospel.  He is something – someone – worth losing everything for.”

I pray that our eyes are opened to the greatness of our treasure and that it will shape our perspective and purpose.

– Candace Evans