The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46
Perspectives or the way that you look at things affect every aspect of your life. If you look at your bank account and see it dwindling because of gas prices today, you might get depressed. However if you look at the innocence of a child and their zest for life, you might be able to find joy no matter what is going on in your life. The streams of true joy run deep, and they can only be found in one place—God‘s presence. The Psalmist reminds us, “You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (16:11).
What kind of perspective on life have you had lately? Recently, a friend invited me to visit with a man who had moved from Africa to Nashville, Tennessee. He greeted us at the door with a smile and joy in his heart that we had stopped by. As I walked into his apartment, I noticed that he had a kitchen table, a couch, and a lot of empty space for his family of three. There were two perspectives that were clashing. In my view of comfort and ease, I wondered how he could be so happy. This alone made me ask a lot of questions about where he found his joy. He told me of a man who had visited his village in Africa and was spreading the Good News about Jesus. At first, he rejected the man, but the more that he heard the Gospel the more it affected him. As a result of the preacher sharing the Gospel, he was born again by God’s Spirit and began walking with Jesus. This was the source of his joy, happiness and peace.
After learning about his salvation experience, he showed me pictures of where he came from in Liberia, Africa. The roads were made of dirt, some gravel and very little pavement. The homes were built out of bamboo with leaves on the roof and a mixture of mud was used as mortar. He lived in a small place where they grew their own food and survived off the land. The basic mode of transportation was two feet or a bicycle if you were really blessed. He said you could easily walk 10-15 miles in a day. With my perspective being opened up to another culture, my friend informed me of a place he wanted to take the man to get some used furniture. We were able to drive to a benevolence center and pick out a few things—a full mattress, a fold-up single mattress, a few pillows, 3 wooden chairs, an old office desk and a couple of blankets. These items were able to meet his basic needs, and they were free. They didn’t seem like much to us, but it would be the comparison of taking an American to American Signature Home and saying, “Get what you want!” He was happy and overjoyed!
With my perspectives refocused, I came home realizing how blessed and spoiled I can be. I live in an air-conditioned home filled with furniture, books, food in the cabinets, clothes in the closet, running water, and ice. There are so many things that surround us and bring us comfort yet are we really comforted? Are we really happy? Are we really joyful? A.W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God, speaks about the Blessedness of Possessing Nothing. He uses Abraham offer of Isaac as a backdrop to say, “After that bitter and blessed experience I think the words my and mine never again had the same meaning for Abraham. The sense of possession which they connote was gone from his heart. Things had been cast out forever. They had now become external to the man. His inner heart was free from them. The world said, ‘Abraham is rich,’ but the aged patriarch only smiled. He could not explain it, but he knew that he owned nothing, that his real treasures were inward and eternal.”
Are your real treasures inward and eternal? Are you like the man who treated the kingdom of heaven like a treasure and sold all that he had to buy it with joy? Or like the merchant who was searching for great pearls and after finding one sold all he had to possess it? This is not saying that the kingdom of heaven can be purchased. The way has already been purchased. It is revealing the point that knowing Christ, the King of the kingdom, is priceless and abandonment to Him provides rich joy and real perspective on this life that we live!
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