Lift up your eyes
For Jesus the kingdom of God was the thing of supreme value. He was forever trying to impress on us its worth. But he had a hard time finding words adequate enough to describe it. All through the gospels we hear him saying, “It is like this. It is like this. It is like this.”
He said it is like treasure buried in a field, which a man found. You can almost picture it—a cold winter day; a man is plowing, when suddenly without warning his little wooden plow strikes something.
He stops and stoops down to find the trouble. It is a chest, buried treasure. He knows the law. He goes and sells all he has and buys the field so that he may possess the treasure.
Again, Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a pearl merchant who has spent a lifetime collecting valuable pearls. One day in the marketplace he sees on display the largest, most magnificent pearl he has ever seen.
He knows that somehow he must have it. He goes and sells all the pearls he has collected over the years and with the money buys this one pearl of great price.
For years it was my practice to write out the pastoral prayers I used for Sunday morning worship. Recently I came across one of them. It was written out in longhand, and I was re-reading these words: “Lord, we thank you for every blessing in life, for our homes and families, our neighbors and friends, for the work we are called to do, for everything that makes our lives worthwhile. Above all, we thank you for Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I stopped my reading. Searching my heart, I asked myself, “Is that really the way I feel? Is Jesus Christ the most important thing in my life? Do I really value him above all else? Do I value him more than anything—more than my work, more than my home, more than my wife, my family?
In his great hymn, George Beverly Shea declares: “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold, I’d rather be his than have riches untold. I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I’d rather be led by his nail scarred hands, than to be the king of a vast domain, and be held in sin’s dread sway. I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.”
Can you say that? Does Jesus Christ have first place in your life? Do you mean before my wife or husband? Yes! If you give Christ first place in your life you will be a better wife, a better husband. Before my children? Yes!
Give Christ first place in your life and you will be a better father, a better mother.
Listen again to the words of the Master: “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. When he found a single pearl of supreme value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
On Sunday afternoon, December 7, 1941, the TCU Glee Club and Chorus gave their fall concert in University Christian Church in Fort Worth. We were all in the choir room visiting and talking when W. J. Marsh, our conductor, came in. He walked to the front and raised his hand for our attention. When it was all quiet, he said, “Young ladies and gentlemen, the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor. Our nation is at war.” We stood in stunned silence for what seemed an eternity. Then we bowed our heads for the prayer which preceded every concert. The prayer over, we moved in procession into the sanctuary.
One of the numbers we sang that afternoon was an arrangement of Martin Luther’s “Ein’ Feste Burg,” “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” I think everyone there listened to the words of that hymn as never before. I know I did.
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill,
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever!
Clyde Nichols is a retired minister, having served First Christian Church in Temple for 27 years as senior minister.
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