Start your year on sure footing, Gospel of Matthew, Day 26 of 58
Reading
Matthew 13:35-58
https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=510424561
Scripture
44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Observation
Non-believers can’t see why we commit our lives for our faith. However, we know why we would follow Jesus. It is our treasure hidden in a field. Jesus means everything to us, and we will give everything we have to follow Him. The glory of God has immeasurable, universal value.
Application
The value of God’s treasure is the feeling I have being inside a church sanctuary, knowing how much people have sacrificed to build it and maintain it for the glory of the Lord. I wrote a poem in 2000 about this, and shared it with the congregation during the “I Love to Tell the Story Campaign” to renovate our stained-glass windows at First UMC of Mount Dora.
“The House of the Father”
Within the walls of a great Cathedral,
Bared in panes of glass and fired grains of sand,
Is a divine sieve, a luminous shawl,
Roused by God though made by human hand.
When dawn breaks, glories of the Lord shine through.
To those on their knees prayers are proved somehow,
And pure light strikes rainbowed on every pew;
Grand are the parts of heaven God may allow.
Constructed in mortar, brick, wood, and stone,
A church stands holy and sacred on earth,
The only Paradise some will have known;
To the devoted, it has a vast worth.
A shelter from the wanton ways of the world,
The House of the Father rests to all unfurled.
Song for contemplation:
I love to tell the story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory,
of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story
because I know it’s true;
it satisfies my longings
as nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story;
’twill be my theme in glory
to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and his love. Amen.
Prayer
“I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” (Isaiah 45:3)
Lord, there are treasures that are indeed hidden – I know that you can help me to discover all of them. Help me to understand that I’m God’s treasure. I trust in you today to help me discover all. Whatever you want me to do, I will do them and all treasures will be mine in Jesus name. Amen.
Borrowed from https://prayray.com/gods-treasure-prayer/
Image Credit: From the cycle of paintings, “The Life of Jesus Mafa”, Cameroonian, 1973, held in the Vanderbilt Divinity Library Collection