Greetings, dear ones.
Once again I abandoned my jog routine this morning in order to get out to the shop and prepare for a 10am mill job—a very unique and challenging one. My assignment was to take some rounds of Atlas Cedar and saw them into precision hexagons—then square cut them to precise lengths. Both procedures called for special jigs. I tallied 4 hours on only 5 pieces, but I did it. He was happy.
Now daylight is fading. After sending this I’d like to spend a little more time at the mill, wrapping up some unfinished work—then folding up the mill to get it ready to haul to another job on Monday morning.
Have a good evening.
Blessings. Ray
Lots of meaning is packed into these two brief single-verse parables. The first story is the one cited above that features HIDDEN TREASURE. It’s followed by verse 45 which features an EXQUISITE PEARL. Both the TREASURE and the PEARL represent enormous values in the judgments of the discerning finders—so much so that they liquidate everything else they own in order to acquire these commodities of much greater worth.
Our overview of Biblical revelation allows no other conclusion than that Jesus, the very One telling these stories, is actually both the TREASURE and the EXQUISITE PEARL. Jesus, and what He represents, is so incredibly beyond any monetary value that whoever discovers Him, believes in Him, recognizes value in Him, and personally “owns” relationship with Him, gets in on the infinite riches of ETERNAL LIFE.
Now—at this point I may take you by surprise. I really believe that something very real and painful is built into this personal “ownership.” How so? Well, we can’t ignore the fact that a majority of people never discover this TREASURE/PEARL—due either to ignorance or their unenlightened understanding of true value. Perhaps they are so deceived that they think their puny possessions represent greater worth than the TREASURES of Christ—perhaps so comfortable with what they already have that they have no interest in change. So, simultaneous with our elation over personally possessing this awesome TREASURE there is an unavoidable and ongoing compassionate HURTING HEART—beholding so many, even loved ones within our own families, who, for whatever reason, ascribe little or no value to “owning” Christ. We know too much. We understand that the true Christian life is not just an endless stream of love, joy, peace, etc. We understand that to depreciate Christ’s worth leads one to serious consequences. How can we be joyful about that?! So I have to believe that an implicit addition to the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT in Galatians 5 is an accompanying HURTING HEART. While it is true that THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH, a HURTING HEART has to be a measure of our motivation—the motivation to appropriately represent and promote this valuable TREASURE/PEARL.