This weekend my family and I went camping. We had a great time! One of the things we did was mountain bike on actual mountain biking trails, with hills, roots, etc.  I recently purchased a very nice mountain bike for my five-year old son.  It is better than bikes most five-year old’s have. I spent tangible money on a tangible bike. The way I see it, though, is that it was an investment for our family. What we got out of it this weekend were things that were intangible. We had great, encouraging family time. We saw each other push beyond what we thought capable. We laughed. We talked of God’s creative genius as we enjoyed His outdoors.

I think that many of our experiences in life are physical pictures of spiritual realities. When explaining the Kingdom of Heaven to His disciples Jesus said,

44 “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. Matthew 13:44 NASB.

The Value of God’s Kingdom is explained by Jesus as a treasure. It is something to be greatly valued. We typically value things we can see. As Jesus uses the word treasure to describe His kingdom, we can immediately go to a picture in our minds to ascribe a tangible value. The problem for us is we have not physically seen the kingdom of heaven.  For now, we only see evidence of God’s kingdom in the hearts of His people (2 Cor. 4:7).

The Kingdom of Heaven is hidden for now.  Yes, the kingdom of heaven is an existent reality for us. Jesus is King and His believers are members of His actual kingdom, but things on this earth do not completely reflect these realities.  They will one day, but not yet.

We cannot rely on what our flesh sees and experiences to ascribe value to God’s kingdom.  The richness of God’s grace that causes us to be born into the eternal Kingdom of God is worth far more than all that our flesh could acquire or desire. We cannot see it, but Jesus is relating what He knows to be true about the eternal value of God’s Kingdom.  We would do well to pay attention to what Jesus is relating.  He is doing so in a way that His people can understand (Matt. 13:11; 19:11).

[tweet_box design=”default”]the eternal Kingdom of God is worth far more than all that our flesh could acquire or desire.[/tweet_box]

To be convinced of this truth, look to Jesus.  The very fact that Jesus was there talking to His disciples is a convincing argument for the value of the Kingdom of Heaven.   When Jesus came to earth, it was never His intention to give up the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus valued the Kingdom of Heaven so much taht he took a great step down from His throne in glory to communicate the Way, Truth and Life to us (John 14:6).  He did so through humility and suffering.  He did not do this to abandon God’s kingdom.  No, instead, He came to show the value of the Kingdom of Heaven by properly honoring our Great King.  He came to share God’s kingdom by sacrificing Himself for sinners so they could see the eternal Greatness of our Awesome God (John 17:1-5; Phil 2:5-11).  Whether you have the best or the worst of this life, neither can compare to the supreme, eternal value of the Kingdom of Heaven.

[tweet_box design=”default”]Whether you have the best or the worst of this life, neither can compare to the supreme, eternal value of the Kingdom of Heaven.[/tweet_box]

So, we should ask ourselves, “have we found a great treasure hidden in a field?” It is true that not everyone sees what we see, but we know it to be more valuable than all that we have.  Our lives and actions reflect what we know to be true.  What do we value most today?  Let us ascribe the same value to the Kingdom of God that Jesus ascribed.  Above all that we have, let us value our Lord and what He has done to cause us to be born into His kingdom (John 3). Above all that we have, let us value each other as fellow members of His Kingdom.

[tweet_box design=”default”]Let us ascribe the same value to the Kingdom of God that Jesus ascribed.[/tweet_box]