In the spirit of Good Friday, I thought I would finally get around to writing this post. It's something that's been on my mind for a long time. I figure this is a good time to get this out.
Anyway, Good Friday is a time to remember the death of Christ and to look forward to His resurrection. It was a game-changer. 2,000 years ago, the world as changed forever. Eternity was impacted. Hope was about to emerge out of great despair. Can you imagine the hopelessness, the despair the disciples must have felt after seeing Christ die on the cross? Yeah, the guy they had put all their hope in killed right in front of their eyes. Thankfully, that feeling of despair would all change days later. Hope would soon spring forth changing eternity for millions of people over the generations to come.
Today is a day of great sorrow, yet also great celebration. Thousands of years ago, Christ willingly went to the cross to endure severe pain and torture. He took our sin upon Himself and became the sacrifice we deserved to be so that we could connect back to God. He basically stepped in front of a bullet for us out of the great love He has for us. He was an innocent man without sin who paid the penalty for our own sin. I've been a Christian for a long time and I'm still blown away by the love humanity was shown through Christ's actions. And in that, knowing myself, I'm also blown away by the love and blessing He has shown me.
Throughout my week, I get the privilege of hanging out with my pastor a lot. Through meeting for coffee, small group, and Sundays at church, I get to hear his perspective and wisdom on things quite a bit. It's great stuff and such an encouragement in my life.
Some of the things that have stuck with me lately were the parables in Matthew 13. The parables about the pearl and hidden treasure to be more specific. In both of the parables, a man finds something of great worth. He then sells all he has so that he can buy that object of great worth.
Now, I have always read those verses as our relationship with Christ and our salvation in Him is worth giving up everything to obtain and pursue. There is nothing greater or worth having that is more important than our treasure in Christ. What a great truth that is!
My pastor turned that around, though. What if we look at those parables through the lens of us being the great treasure? Did Christ not give up everything to save us? Christ sold or gave up everything so that He could buy us out of the slavery of sin. One doesn't just willingly go through the torture of a crucifixion just for the heck of it. He saw something worth saving. He paid the ultimate price to buy us out of bondage so that we could be free from sin and have eternal life in Him. To Christ, we are a great treasure worth giving up everything to save.
There is no such thing as a nobody in the Kingdom of God. There are no untouchables, no worthless people. Christ sees past the dirt, mud, and even manure in our lives to see the gold and diamonds underneath. And the awesome thing is that He doesn't leave us covered with the imperfections and impurities but He refines us if we let Him when we invite Him into our lives.
You don't find gold and just cast it aside because it's a little dirty. No, when you find it, you clean it off, melt it down and turn it into something of use. As is it with Christ, you don't have to wait to be clean of dirt before you decide to follow Him. No, you come to Him caked in mud and hard rock with all your imperfections. Out of His love, He sees the treasure within and will break away the hard rock, clean away the dirt, and smelt the imperfections out of you over time.
It not always a fast or painless process. We are all works in progress for sure. It's not always easy. Sometimes, it's downright hard...but even with that, it's still worth it. It is a treasure worth giving up everything for just as Christ gave up everything for the treasure He found in us.
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