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Genesis 41:17-42:17
Matthew 13:24-46
Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 4:1-6
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45, 46).
The unbelievable emphasis of this verse? The fact that we are so valuable to God that He weighed the cost and found it worthwhile to spill His only Son’s blood in order to purchase us. Do you feel worthy of that? You don’t. Neither do I. But somehow, God did see us as worthy of that.
That’s the usual commentary on this passage, and a worthy commentary it is. But I saw something new when I read this today. I saw this as a commentary on our appreciation of Scripture.
Every time we open God’s Word, we make a decision. For years, I’ve seen this decision as being a choice between waterskiing and scuba-diving. Think visually about those two. Picture a waterskier; flying over the waves, hurrying from one spot to the other. Now think about a scuba-diver, who drops him- or herself over the edge of the boat and takes a leisurely look at all the beauty lurking below those waves.
We ski, or we dive. We rush over the words God inspired, or we tarry, hoping to see just one more beautiful facet of what He’s hidden below the surface.
That’s how I normally think about these things. But today, reading these particular words, I left my oceanic mindset and handed myself a shovel. Will I skip across this field, or will I plant my feet and dig?
Weeds occupy the surface of this fields, dotted only sporadically by a stubborn plant-of-value here and there. But below the surface? That’s where all the treasure lies, just waiting for discovery.
If I were a begging woman, I’d plead here. “Don’t skip; please dig.” But begging can be so off-putting. Often our begging just pushes people in the other direction. Instead, I’ll leave you with a bit of news. A good number of people bent on disproving God’s words, who initially approached Scripture with a critical, skeptical, “prove it to me” skipper’s mindset, somehow found themselves digging instead, and in the process, discovered salvation.
A wise person would take their time, and dig deep, and dust off the treasures waiting just below the surface. But that’s a wise person.
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