Forgotten Treasure
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. – Matthew 13:44 NKJV.
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. – 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 NKJV.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises…. – 2 Peter 1:2-4a NKJV.
…add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. – 2 Peter 1:5b-9 NKJV.
In Logan, Pennsylvania police have a mystery on their hands, who put the jewels in the handbag? A woman shopping at a Boscov’s store bought a new purse; inside of the purse, she discovered a treasure of jewelry including necklaces, rings, watches and bracelets. The theory is that the purse was purchased previously, and returned to the store for some reason. The first purchaser apparently forgot about the treasure she had stored inside of the purse. The second purchaser of the purse turned the treasure over to the police hoping the owner will be found. (YahooNews 03.29.16)
It does seem strange that you could forget about a treasure of jewels. However, we humans are forgetful beings, especially about God. The children of Israel had this repeated problem in the Book of Judges. As times were good they would forget about their need for God and begin to worship false gods. When times grew difficult for them, usually because of a ruler that had become harsh, they remembered their God and would cry out to Him for help. God would respond by sending a deliverer, a judge who would lead them to freedom. This cycle was repeated many times. Why? Because they would forget about their need for the One True God.
We have the same problem, when times are good we tend to forget about our need for God. How can we forget about such a great treasure? Yet, God says through the apostle Peter that if we lack virtue, self-control, godliness, kindness, and love there is a problem. The problem is that we have forgotten about the treasure, forgotten that we were cleansed from our old sins. We have forgotten that in our earthen vessel dwells the Holy Spirit, there is no greater treasure. Let us not forget our Treasure!