The kingdom of heaven is like

I woke up with the parable of the pearl of great value in my mind one day last week. I got up and read the passage, which got me thinking. This blog post is a product of my pensive mood as I have been chewing on this. It's still raw, so be gentle with me.

The kingdom of heaven. Or as Jo-Ann Brant would be proud of me perhaps to have learned from her class, the reign of heaven/reign of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like…

There is such depth to Scripture. So the kingdom of heaven could mean: the literal place of heaven, the kingdom of God on earth, the presence of God, the value of a relationship with God, or perhaps elements of salvation, justification, sanctification, mercy, grace; or all these things wrapped up in one? Yes. And I don’t know. This is what Jesus says in a parable:

“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

The kingdom of heaven appears to you, comes upon you. When you find it and realize that there is nothing else like it, nothing else worthy of investing in, then you will sell all of your possessions literal and figurative so that you may obtain it.

The kingdom of heaven is sought out. There is nothing in this life worth living for. Not wealth, not fame, nothing. When you discover that heaven is the only thing of value in life, it is the treasure that you have always been looking for, you will be compelled to sell everything to have it.

Ironically, for the greatest and most valuable gift available, there are not enough resources that you could ever obtain to trade in for it. Thanks be to God for his son Jesus, the savior of the world, standing in the place as the pure payment so that I may receive the greatest gift without cost.

This makes me think of the following first few verses in Isaiah 55: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

And finally from Matthew 6:21, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I have been thinking a lot lately about where my heart is and what motives lie within; my mind is swirling with thoughts, my own mingled with memorized snipits of Scripture.