“[Jesus said,] 'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44 (NRSV)
Spiritual Walk and Musings:
“I was brought up to go to church (never thinking there was a proper alternative), was dismayed by tragedy into dropping out of worship, and drifted through college life vaguely aware that some truly ghastly people met as a Christian Union. Then in my mid- twenties, not looking for him at all, Jesus took hold of me. It wasn't the church, nor middle-class Christian morality, nor the disciplines of faith (all of which I still struggle with many years later). It was the character of Jesus who reached out and grabbed me and he hasn't let me go, although I've shaken hard enough. The character of the man who - brought up in the artisan middle-classes, educated, intelligent - turned his back on all of that and made his home among the poor, relied on others, defied convention, stayed single, trod a delicate line between friends in the brothel and the synagogue, inspired people that a world of justice was not only possible but desirable, and died with words of love and forgiveness on his lips.
My godson has asked for a metal detector for his birthday. He has asked for it over and over again since February, because he's convinced that there is something buried in the local woods, where there was a Roman settlement. Have you any idea what a proper metal detector costs! But he is so single-minded that I don't see how I can get him anything else. And if he finds something and proves my scepticism wrong I will be so happy! I've got a hidden agenda to go with his hidden treasure. I'm praying that somewhere along the line in the future of a wonderful little boy (and preferably after he's had an opportunity to fling a small handful of wild oats as far as they can decently go) he stumbles upon Jesus as a treasure of inestimable value. He knows the name; he knows routine; he's been surrounded by the love of Christians all his life. But I'm waiting for the day when, unexpectedly I'm sure, Jesus reaches out and grabs hold of him. Because then he'll find that everything else that was important to him, metal detector and all, can be traded in with much rejoicing as he makes his journey home.”
To Pray and Ponder:
A prayer by George MacDonald (1824 - 1905)
Jesus, into thy hands I give the heart
Which left thee but to learn how good thou art. Amen
God Bless, Jon
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