"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13:44, NAS)
My wife has been quite busy these last few days. She
has found lots of items that we will never use again. In order to dispose of all
this junk, she called the city Waste Management program for a special large-item
pick-up. In addition, some of the things had to be brought to the dump; but
there were some items that the city wouldn't take that were not convenient to
take to the dump, and some items that required an expensive city tag in order
for the city to pick them up. What would we do with these items?
Now please understand that we are not the kind of
people who like to sell our garbage to others, so a yardsale is out of the
question. It took a few days, but we did come up with another solution: "Let's
put the stuff on the side of the road. Maybe someone will see the stuff and help
themselves!"
And that's what we did. We started with the
dehumidifier and the basketball net. We had bought a 20$ ticket for the disposal
of the dehumidifier, but when we woke up, both items were gone! We were able to
return the ticket and regain our 20$.
Hey, that's pretty cool! Why not bring out more items?
If it will help someone else, why not?" And so that's what we did, and bit by
bit, the stuff disappeared.
We tried to keep an eye on the people who took our
junk, and it was as if they had won the lottery, as if they had found a fortune.
One of our neighbors even took advantage of this and we became friends on the
spot. Maybe I should put out junk more often!
This reminded me of the man who found a treasure in
the field. He, too, was excited. He bought the field so that he could have the
treasure. In the same way, my new-found friends are excited as well, and they
didn't even have to buy anything! It was all for free!
Sadly enough, not everyone enjoys things that are
free: "On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He
cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living
water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this
way, just as the Scripture says.'" (John 7:37, 38 MSG)
Many seem to prefer junk to the real treasure. Who
else can bring eternal life to others? Who else can heal us from top to the
bottom? Only the One who left Heaven and came into our neighborhood to show that
love is way more important than anything else. The One who loves us the most is
our Heavenly Father. He loves you!
If you'd like some junk, come on over! We seem to have
a unending stash…
Rob Chaffart
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