You know all of Jesus' "the Kingdom of Heaven is like..." talks? I've heard them a lot, so sometimes I stop hearing them. (Know what I mean?) But a while ago I saw one of them in a new light. I was reading about the guy who found the treasure in the field. "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."

I've read that passage quite a few times in my lifetime, but this time I saw something I've never seen before.

The man found the treasure and then hid it again.

For the first time, I asked myself why he didn't just take it. Selling his stuff and buying the field proved the value the treasure had to him. It was worth more than petty larceny. It was worth all he had, and his actions demonstrated that very fact.

Yes, he could have just pocketed the treasure---could've walked off with it and no one would've known. But he decided it was worth more than that. Worth so much, in fact, that he hid it again, went and sold all his belongings, and then came back and bought the field.

He didn't buy the field for the field's sake. He bought it for the sake of the treasure. The field only had value because of the treasure it held.

Similarly, I have value because of the treasure I hold---Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Every single day, the treasure of Christ is freely mine for the embracing. But if I truly value that gift, I will sacrifice to lay hold of it. To lay hold of Him.

Too many days I just pocket the treasure. Or worse, I leave it buried.

Today I want to let my life show the value I place on the treasure that is Christ.

You?