The Greatest Treasure

"If we do not rejoice and share our joy in the treasure we have found then we are saying we have been disappointed."

This idea has been in every thought I've had since I heard it on Sunday in a fall retreat message describing the importance of sharing our joy from Christ. The Bible is clear about sharing our joy of the kingdom:

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.

(Matthew 13:44-46)

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 

(Luke 5:8-9)

I have heard these stories, but they have never meant anything to me until now.

Jesus is the greatest treasure we have. His death gives us all things, His love and grace is of infinite worth. None of these things will decay, they will not grow old or unusable. Daily they are made new, and yet are unchangingly good. 

Nothing in this world can compare to the worth of having Christ.

Yet I often find that much more joy in a good test grade or in a snow day or in sleeping in.

These are the things I share with those around me, making the gospel old and heard of already. I push it away saying that I understand it. 

Why is joy so hard to have? This is the question I'm still exploring. It is because other things rob my joy, because I search for it in other places, because I do not stop long enough to gaze upon the treasure that is the cross. 

Where to go from here? That's the other question. Joy cannot be forced. Joy is not happiness. Joy can be attained amongst sorrow, it is deeper than happiness, and more permanent. 

I, we, must go back to the source of the joy. To rid ourselves of those things robbing it from us. To search for it where it is, and to stop and look at it every single day.

To remember that God loves us so, very, very, very much that He chose to send His own sinless son to take our sins upon the cross and die. To remember that Jesus conquered death by rising again. To remember that grace, mercy, and love is abundantly ours. That we are given the same spirit who did all those things, and to know that the God of the stars is leading us out of our darkness and into His light.

To remember that we need nothing else.

And to find this every day. To seek it out intentionally and to allow it to work in our hearts, where our only, possible response could be inexpicable joy.