44 “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.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
“They sold everything they had…”
These two gentlemen took a good look at the treasure and decided its value outweighed everything they had. For them it was not speculation…it was an investment. In their minds…when they sold everything they owned to purchase the treasure…their net worth skyrocketed.
Good for them, but they didn’t have all the stuff I have. And, in this economy, I’d only get a fraction of the value.
Actually…that doesn’t matter. The price to enter the Kingdom is “all we have” no matter how much we have.
It’s obvious that when we become believers, and join the Body of Christ (not the “church”) we aren’t immediately divested of all we possess. The implication is “possession” is not the same as “ownership”. We have a lot of things in our possession that God allows us to keep when we become believers. It’s just that when he buys us…he buys it all. He takes title to all our possessions. Every last one of them.
“Lock, stock and barrel…”
I wonder…as I contemplate God’s Corvette (sitting in my garage)…if I “own” it or just “possess” it. The answer is revealed in what I do with it. If God were to say “Lee, I want you to take “my” Corvette and sell it and give the money to the Great Commission Fund”, do I have a choice?
I don’t, If I fail to obey, I’m claiming ownership. If that’s the case, I’ve reneged on the price of entry into the Kingdom. I’m positive eternal life is worth at least a 1995 Corvette. It’s possible I could sign it over and God would let me keep it…as He has up to this point…but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The rich young ruler went away sad “because his barns were full”. The price of eternal life…in his mind…was too high. I wonder, when he stood face to face with eternity, if he changed his mind.
If my experience is any measure, I know that when we gave our lives to Christ none of us held anything back. We “sold everything we had”. We did it gladly and thought we were getting off easy. Somehow, over the years, we have unconsciously (or consciously) reclaimed a few things. Our ego? Our family? Our reputation? I don’t believe God’s word teaches we are in danger of repossession when we do this…this is what grace is for. It does remind us, however, that we’re guilty of quibbling.
And that’s just plain embarrassing. We need to quit it.
We are fond of saying when Jesus bought us it cost him everything he had. True, but it also cost us everything we have.
Live boldly out there today…
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