If you are reading this in January, Christmas is in the rear-view mirror. If you’ve got hold of your en in good time, however, and are reading this in December, please mentally adjust the tenses below as you read!
The chocolates have been eaten, Lego sets made and, predictably, my boys are only still interested in a few of their gifts. Not because they are particularly ungrateful, but because that’s just how we’re wired. We simply can’t treasure everything – or else it wouldn’t be a treasure! We lavish our time and attention on what we prize most. What is really important to us always occupies the biggest space in our hearts.
The Apostle Paul declared: ‘Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!’ (2 Cor. 9:15). Christ is the very best gift that God could have given us, but do I treasure Him? Does He occupy the biggest space in my heart?
Remember the parable of the man who, finding treasure in a field, sold everything he had to purchase the field. Or the merchant who finally discovered a priceless pearl and sold everything he had to buy it (Matt. 13:44-46). The men in the story recognised the worth of what they had found and were willing to give up everything else to lay hold of it. There is no theological debate to pick over here. Matthew’s point is clear. When we find Christ we discover He is matchless. He is like treasure of incalculable value or the finest of pearls and all other loves are relegated, all other passions and pursuits are superseded, by our desire to know and love Him.
This is no grudging sacrifice. The man in the parable was full of joy as he sold all he had because he realized that what he was giving up was nothing in comparison to what he was gaining. Sometimes I forget that part. I try to grasp hold of all my little treasures – Christ as well as family, pleasure, Christian service, even control and worry. The space in my heart is crowded out, Christ is no longer prized above all. According to Matthew’s parable, instead of enjoying the rare treasure I possess I’m still playing in the field. Or, to use Pascal’s words, I’m ‘licking the earth.’
Joy dwindles and I remember again that my heart was not made to house many mini-treasures but to be consumed by One. Graciously through the Scriptures, the words of a friend, or the lines of a song, God reminds me that I am His treasure. His love for me never diminishes, it is relentless and limitless. He invites me to hold up to the light the treasure that is Christ, to see again His surpassing worth, to rehearse the truths of the gospel – I’m forgiven, united with Christ, indwelt by the Spirit and headed for glory. He calls me to put aside the distractions, the mini-treasures, even the good things, and love Him above all else. To know and be known by Him, to be shaped into His likeness and live for His glory.
This New Year, like every other year, treasures will jostle for pre-eminence in our hearts. God appeals to us to keep lifting our eyes up from the dirt and be captivated by Christ: ‘To you who believe [Jesus] is precious’ (1 Peter 2:7).
