God Points Us to His Hidden Treasure

The latest obsession of my three-year-old grandson is with pirates. He likes to dress up in his pirate costume, say “Arrgh”, and otherwise act the role. So when I was at his house recently, he and I played as if we were finding hidden treasure. One of us would hide the valuable cache of fake jewels and coins, then the other person would have to look for it. Whenever my grandson hid the treasure for me to find, I have to admit that it wasn’t a very difficult search. He would often linger in the vicinity where he had concealed the precious loot, often glancing in its direction. On top of that, the “clues” he provided me virtually told me exactly where the treasure was located. I tried to pretend I was having a hard time finding it, but he made the search quite easy.

It reminds me of Jesus’ description of the kingdom of heaven as a hidden treasure which a man found (Matthew 13:44). Certainly the good news of the salvation God has provided us, the fact that we can have a right relationship with Him, and all the blessings that comprise God’s gift of eternal life is a precious possession which we should treasure. In a subsequent parable Jesus compared it to a pearl of great price for which a man sold everything he had in order to be able to purchase it. Experiencing the truths of the gospel in our lives and knowing Jesus as our Savior and Lord is truly a valued gift we shouldn’t ever take for granted.

However, let’s not get the wrong idea about this hidden treasure. God isn’t trying to conceal it from us. The one who is attempting to keep us from discovering this precious jewel is Satan. He blinds our eyes to the truth. He deceives us into trying to find our treasure in the cheap counterfeits this world offers us. And all too often we are our own worst enemies, refusing to accept the truth and to receive the real riches, while gravitating toward those imitations which inevitably fail to satisfy and lead to disappointment.

In the meantime, God has done and is still doing everything He can to point us in the right direction. He speaks to us through creation, clearly directing anyone with an open mind to the truth that there must be an intelligent, wise, and powerful Creator behind it all. He has given us a reliable written revelation of Himself and of His actions throughout history. The Bible tells us who God is, what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins, and how we can find this great treasure through repentance and faith. Jesus Himself is the greatest indicator of where our treasure lies. He is the one way to God and to eternal life. Jesus is the “X” that marks the spot on the map. Through His life, death, and glorious resurrection, He is standing right there, pointing us to the location of what we’re seeking. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). God isn’t hiding this precious treasure from us – He’s doing all He can to show us exactly where to find it. As the old hymn asks, “What more can He say than to you He hath said?”

The problem isn’t that the treasure is well-hidden. The problem is that too many of us are unwilling to receive it. The good news of Christ is right there waiting for us. God has put up neon signs all around it saying, “This is it!” Let’s accept God’s wonderful gift. It’s a treasure we can’t afford to miss out on.