TREASURE HUNTING

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I delight in small shiny objects.

When I go clothes shopping, I walk into the store, scope out the racks of colored fabric hanging in neat rows. If one sparkles at me, I head straight for it, like a cat pouncing on a bug.

Those of you who know me, understand that I never actually wear sparkly clothing. Nope, solid colored, button-up shirts with collars and simple slacks for me. But the clothing that attracts me glitters. Always.

I get my glitter fix with jewelry. Maybe that's the secret reason why I don't wear glittery clothing. You don’t want to overdo things, too much, right? Let the clothing be the backdrop for the jewels. Yeah, now that's classy.

It's all about the jewelry for me. And there’s a theological reason for that.

Huh?

I believe that when God created earth, His plan was to fill it with beauty. And He did. Mountains, plains, oceans, lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds and puddles. The cloud-filled sky, whether blue or gray. The grass, trees, flowers, critters. It's all a reflection of the beauty that is God.

But when God was all done covering the earth's surface with beauty that reflected Him, it still waned in comparison to His glory. Since He still had so much of His glorious beauty left, He hid some deep inside the earth.

Over time, as mankind digs deep into God's rich soil, underneath the beauty at the surface of our earth, through all the wiggly worms, the gnarly roots and crumbly dirt, we find sparkling, glittering treasures. We dig them up, dust them off and hold them up to the light, exclaiming, "beautiful!" And we call them "precious."

We name those treasures gold, silver, platinum, copper. Diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby. They are precious to us. And they are a reflection of God's glorious, excessive beauty.

 
Yes, this is Carol's theology. But remember Jesus' parable of the man who found a treasure in the ground? He covered it back up. Then he sold everything he owned and bought the land so the treasure could be his. The treasure in Jesus’ parable was the Gospel, the priceless good news of our salvation through Christ.

Carol's parable has two meanings and I admit they aren’t as important as Jesus’. But here they are.

First these hidden treasures show how we can seek God's glory in everything around us. It is everywhere for us to see if only we take the time to look. It is in nature, it is people, it is in God’s Word.  When we find it, it is a sparkling, glittering, precious delight. And it is worth the seeking.

Secondly, these hidden treasures reflect how God has placed a sparkling, precious delight inside each of us. It is up to us, with God’s help, to dig through the dirt, past the worms and the roots and find it. This treasure is our desire to know and love Him. He placed that desire deep inside each of us.

When we recognize our need to love Him, we can let Him dust this treasure off and hold it up to the light. Our internal treasure, our faith in Christ, is a delight to Him and a sparkling light shining God's glory to the world.

It is worth the digging.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for your glory and for the reminders of your beauty around us. Please work in us so that we are a delight to you. Help us seek your treasure above all else. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What treasures in your life do you see as God's sparkling delights?