The Uncomparable Worth of the Kingdom of God
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The Uncomparable Worth of the Kingdom of God
“ The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again , and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for pearls . When he found one of great value , he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. “
Matthew 13: 44-45
The true believer sees the Kingdom of God as the greatest treasure of all treasures in the world. Its worth is uncomparable with anything in the world. The one who truly finds the Kingdom of God is willing to forsake everything just to possess the Kingdom.
To be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus one must forsake all as Jesus says in Luke 14:33
“ So likewise whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
In this passage, Jesus did not say we must forsake only a part of our wealth. He said “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has ….”. He did not say that a diluted form of discipleship would be possible for a man who holds on to his treasures. Jesus said, he cannot be my disciple.
The true Christian who sees the uncomparable worth of the Kingdom places top priority on pursuing it. He will forsake everything that hinders its fulfillment in his life.He is willing to surrender all his treasures or anything he holds so dear to the Lord in order to possess the Kingdom of God. He is willing to forsake anything in his life that hinders the fulfillment of God’s will and purposes for his life. May it be his wealth, his career, his ungodly friends, his selfish ambitions, his worldly pursuits.
Did He not instruct the rich young ruler : “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor , and you will have treasure in heaven and come, follow me.” (Luke 18 :22). If He did not mean exactly what He said, what then did He mean ? Was it not true of the believers in the early church that they sold their possessions and goods, and divides them among all as anyone had need.” (Acts 2:45).
And has it not been true of many God’s saints down through the years that they literally forsook all to follow Christ. C. T. Studd decided to give his entire fortune to Christ and to take the golden opportunity offered him of doing what the rich young man had failed to do. After distributing thousand to the work of the Lord , he reserved £ 3, 400 for his new bride.
When we see the Kingdom of God as the greatest treasure whose worth is far beyond compare, how can we hold on to excessive wealth which the Lord commanded us to give up for the sake of the poor. If we truly value the Word of the Lord, we will not hold onto our surplus funds which can be used for the salvation of perishing souls.
We may be just ordinary citizens with no excessive wealth, how can we show that we forsake all for Christ ?
As ordinary citizens who have seen the uncomparable worth of the Kingdom of God, we will continue to work hard to provide for our needs and the needs of our families .But whatever amount of money we have earned above our needs and our families’ need, we will give for the work of the Kingdom of God. We will try our best to earn great amount of money not to fulfill our luxuries but in order to contribute greatly for the cause of the Kingdom of God. We will try our best to live just a simple life, in order to have excess money to contribute for the salvation of the lost. The Lord may require us to give up many of our luxuries to accomplish this.
We will not engage ourselves in the building up of vast financial reserves for old-age security, we will trust God completely for our future. We believe that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, we will never lack food and clothing. How can we conscientiously hoard extra funds when the money could be used right now for the salvation of souls. It is written : “ ….. whoever has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?’
Clever men of this world set aside abundant reserves for future. This is not walking by faith but by sight.The Christian is called to a life of dependence on God. If he lays up treasures on earth, how is he different from the world and its ways? It is written in
Hebrews 10: 38 ; “But my righteous one will live by faith.And if he shrinks back I will not be pleased with him” The Christian is bound to live by faith in order to please God.
People plead that there are certain material possessions that are necessary for homelife. That is true. People plead that Christian businessman must have a certain amount of capital to carry on a business today. That is true. People plead that there are material possessions such as car which can be used for God’s glory.that is true. But beyond that legitimate necessities, the Christian should live frugally and sacrificially for the spread of the Gospel.
There is a great Christian businessman by the name of R.G. Tourneau. R. G. Tourneau is a prolific inventor of earthmoving machinery. His machines represented nearly seventy percent of the earthmoving equipments and engineering vehicles used during World War II and he was responsible for nearly 300 patents.
He was known as devoted Christian and generous philanthropist to Christian causes. He was sometimes called God’s businessman. He had earned millions of dollars and gave much of his profit to Christian missions. Despite his success as a businessman, he maintained just a simple life. He remained living in an ordinary community and remained riving an old used car.
R.G. Tourneau, despite of vast earnings in millions of dollars maintained just a simple life and gave much of his earnings to God’s work. He is one man who had truly seen the uncomparable worth of the Kingdom of God . If all successful Christian businessmen will be like him, truly the Great Commission of the Lord JesusChrist will easily be fulfilled.
SOURCE : True Discipleship by William MacDonald
