"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 the field."
The kingdom of heaven, whatever that means, is so amazing and important that Jesus describes it with this little analogy. The man finds a treasure. It's far more important than anything he has, so he sells all his stuff to make sure that he gets the treasure, which is the kingdom of God.
But me, I'm not even willing to give up my savings for the kingdom of God, let alone sell things I have. I mean, what if an emergency happens and I need the money? What if I need a downpayment for a house some day? What if...
But, you see, Jesus tells a parable about people like me. It's the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In the parable, a man leaves and gives his servants some money. God has given me some money. Some of the servants invest the money, get back more, and give it to the man. He is pleased and blesses them. The final servant hides the money, doing nothing with it, and gives it back. The money I have is hidden in a bank account. The man takes money and gives it to the faithful servants, and the worthless servant is thrown "outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Weeping and gnashing of teeth? That's a description of hell. The servant who keeps the money and does nothing with it is thrown into hell.
So, this is a serious thing. Now, I don't think this parable is saying that God wants us to go invest into the stock market to try to get rich. But I do think this parable is saying that we should give our money away. More specifically that I should give my own money away...and invest it in something or someone that is doing the work of God.
Jesus says it so many freaking times. He tells the rich man to sell all his posessions before following him. He says that it's really hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. In Luke 14:33, he says that we can't be his disciple if we don't give up everything we have. In Luke 12:33, Jesus straight-up says "Sell your possessions and give to the poor." At the end of the same chapter he says that from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. Keeping money is a way to be safe in life, and in Luke 9:24, Jesus says that we will lose our life if we try to save it, and save it if we lose it. Luke 6:20 has Jesus teaching that the poor will be blessed because the kingdom of God belongs to them. And these are just the verses I found perusing things I've marked in my Bible....there's probably many more.
Maybe not all of these verses support what I'm saying, and I don't understand them all completely, but there's enough to back it up. It's clear that Jesus wants us to give up things for the kingdom. He wants us to trust him for everything, which is way easier when we don't have a savings account to trust in. Maybe I'm wrong, but should we risk distancing ourselves from God because of our excess money that will one day vanish?
I found that treasure in the field. But apparently, I'm somehow not convinced that the field is a good investment. What will you sell for that field?
