Sunday, May 20, 2012,
6:49 a.m. – The Lord woke me with this song in mind:
Oh, to Be
Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer / Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J.
Kirkpatrick
Oh, to be
like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is
my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be
like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving,
tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O to be
like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and
harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
Oh, to be
like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in
Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 13:44-46, 53-58 (NIV 1984):
“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.
“Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great
value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it…
When Jesus had
finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he
began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did
this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this
the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did
this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
And he did not do many
miracles there because of their lack of faith.
My Understanding: The
kingdom of heaven began with Jesus’ earthly ministry and will be culminated in
his return and in his kingdom reign on the earth. The kingdom was present in
Jesus Christ while he was on the face of the earth – in his teachings,
ministry, healings, deeds, words, actions, attitudes, behavior, etc. He was/is
the embodiment of the kingdom. The kingdom also includes the gospel of
salvation, the church (the body of Christ), the present ministry of Christ on
this earth through his followers via the working of the Holy Spirit in and
through us, our eternal salvation, and the promise and hope of eternity with
God in heaven. When we invite Jesus Christ into our lives to be our Lord and
Savior, we come into the kingdom of heaven via God’s grace, by faith, and we
invite the kingdom of God to come within us, to dwell with us, and to be lived
out through us.
Jesus said the kingdom of heaven was like a treasure hidden
in a field. A man found it, hid it for safekeeping, and then in his joy went
and sold all he had and bought the field. The reason he did it this way was
that the treasure could not be his until he was the rightful owner of the field
on which the treasure was found. A merchant (business person; trader; seller;
retailer), i.e. “somebody who buys and sells goods” (Encarta) for a living was
looking for fine pearls. A pearl, besides being a costly gem, is also “somebody
or something highly esteemed or valued” (Encarta). Pearls of wisdom involve insight,
wisdom, advice or godly principles governing one’s behavior. In Matthew 7:6 we
learn: “Do not give dogs what is sacred;
do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their
feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” This, I believe, has to do
with not giving the message of the gospel or words of godly counsel and wisdom
to those who refuse it. So, a pearl is something that is precious, highly
valued, of great worth, and is a picture of the kingdom of heaven. When the
merchant found the right one, he sold everything and bought it.
Selling All
The kingdom of heaven is thus compared to a hidden treasure
or a costly gem. And, the only way to get this treasure is through selling
(getting rid of; giving up) all we possess in order to attain the treasure.
Jesus said: “If anyone would come after
me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will
save it” (Luke 9:23-24). Paul said: “What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no
means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ...
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because
anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Ro. 6:1-3, 6-7). The way we
gain the kingdom of heaven is through death to ourselves and to our old lives
of sin. Daily we must die to sin (repent – turn from) and follow (obey) Jesus
Christ.
This does not necessarily mean that we sell everything we
own that is of material value, though the Lord may require that of some, but
what it means is that we give ourselves unreservedly to Jesus Christ, and we
willingly leave behind us all the trappings of the world, all our sins, all
idols of this world, worldly pleasures, anything displeasing to God and/or that
is of the flesh of man, and all our rights to ownership of all that we possess
in worldly wealth or possessions, in the sense of not holding on to the things
of this life, and in recognition that this world is not our home. Romans 12:1-2 fits so well here:
“Therefore, I urge
you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Buying Everything
Not only did the man who discovered the treasure and the
merchant who found the pearl sell all they had, but the man bought the field
and the merchant bought the pearl. Ephesians
4:17-24 gives us a Biblical picture of the reality of what Jesus Christ
intended by these parables:
“So I tell you this,
and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and
separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given
themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with
a continual lust for more.
You, however, did not
come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in
accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to
your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by
its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put
on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Putting off the old self is the same as selling all we have.
Being made new in the attitude of our minds and putting on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness is the same as buying
the field with the hidden treasure or buying the pearl. This is what the
kingdom of heaven is like. Jesus paid the price for our sins so we could go
free both from the penalty (eternity in hell) of sin and the control of sin
over our everyday lives. He made it possible for us to enter into the kingdom
of heaven. We don’t have to die for our sins if we come to Christ by faith.
Yet, entry into God’s kingdom is not without cost entirely. Our heart response
to what Jesus Christ did for us is to die to our old lives of sin and to be
resurrected to new lives in Christ Jesus, to walk in obedience to Christ, to
live for him, to be his witnesses, to serve him in whatever ways he has for us
to serve, and to love others, etc.
Instead of laying up treasures on this earth, we are to lay
up treasures in heaven (see Matt. 6:19-20). We should view everything in this
life from an eternal perspective. This takes daily discipline to get our minds
off the things of this life and to place them on the things of everlasting
value, I know from experience. Certainly we have to be earthly minded to some
extent for we have jobs, responsibilities, chores, errands, kids, grandkids,
shopping, bills to pay, houses and automobiles to keep up, etc. So, we cannot
be entirely removed from this life. Yet, the Bible teaches that we are to be in
the world but not of it, and that we are not to love the things of this world,
i.e. they are not to be our passion, desire, longing, what consumes our time,
attention, resources and/or what we value most, talk about most, and/or what we
live for. God – Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit, living holy lives pleasing
to God, loving others like Christ loved us in giving himself for us, and
sharing the gospel of Christ should be our passion and desire. We should give
up all else (yield ownership; give up the hold the things of this world have on
us) in order to gain Christ and his kingdom.
Without Honor
When we give up all for Jesus and we choose to no longer be
controlled by sin or to follow the pattern of this world, but we choose to
follow Jesus Christ and his teachings, and we choose to be lights in this dark
world for the kingdom of God and for the gospel of Christ, Jesus said we, as
his disciples, would face the same kind of treatment he faced. He said we would
be hated and persecuted, and not just by people outside the church, either.
Jesus’ greatest persecutors and the ones who sent him to the cross were the
religious leaders in the temple. Sometimes our greatest persecution will come
from those within our church family or within our own homes. Jesus said that
would be the case. That is how they treated Jesus, and if we are making it our
goal to be like him, we can be guaranteed not everyone is going to like it or
like us. In fact, Jesus said that we lack honor the most from those closest to
us, not that we are all prophets, but we are the Lord’s servants and witnesses.
So to be dishonored and rejected is part of the cost of gaining the kingdom of
heaven, too.
No Less / An
Original Work / March 19, 2012
I can do no less than
praise You,
Lord, for all You’ve
done for me.
You died for my sins
to save me,
So I would be set
free.
I adore You! Lord, I
praise You!
Jesus, Savior, King of
kings!
You provided my redemption.
Your grace has
pardoned me.
I can do no less than
serve You.
Lord, Your witness I
would be,
Telling others of Your
love,
And why You died on
that tree.
Tell of how You gave
of Your life,
So from sin we’d be
set free,
So we could worship
You forever,
And live eternally.
I can do no less than
love You,
Lord, for You have
first loved me.
You gave of Your life
so willing,
Because You cared for
me.
Turn from my sin! Obey
freely!
Live for You each
passing day.
Read Your word, and
follow Your lead,
Lord, as I humbly
pray.
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