«l will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord» (Isaiah 45:3, NIV).
In 2010, Fenn Forrest, a tycoon and eccentric art dealer, hid a chest filled with «hundreds of gold nuggets and rubies, eight emeralds, two Ceylon sapphires, many diamonds, two ancient Chinese jade carvings and pre-Columbian gold bracelets,» * worth two million dollars. What for? As he himself explained, it was so that people «will get up off the couch.» To help those who were interested in finding the treasure, he left nine clues in a twenty-four-verse poem, which he published in a book with his memoirs: The Thrill of the Chase.
And people did get off the couch! Over 60,000 people went on a search for the hidden treasure. Many left their jobs, others spent everything they had, and some even died in the attempt. Finally, in 2020, Forrest himself affirmed that a man had found the treasure in the Rocky Mountains.
It reminds me of how Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a «hidden treasure,» and that when we find it we should be willing to sell «all [we] have» (Matthew 13:44) in order to buy it. But, are we interested in finding the heavenly treasure? Or are we more interested in earthly treasure? I believe that those who attempted to find the Rocky Mountains treasure should inspire us—not to run after riches, but to give priority and relevance to divine treasure (the only true treasure).
Inspired by God, the prophet Isaiah recorded this extraordinary promise for us: ‘Il will give you hidden treasures so that you may know that I am the Lord» (Isaiah 45:3, NIV). These «hidden treasures» are available to us through Christ, because in Him «are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge» (Colossians 2:3).
If there were people who even risked their lives to find Fenn Forrest’s treasure, why is it so hard for us to understand nothing is more valuable than the treasure of the kingdom of heaven? Earthly treasure spoils, gets lost, and is fleeting. . . The wisest thing for us to do is to become tireless seekers of treasures in heaven, «where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal» (Matthew 6:20).
www.meditacionesdiarias.com
https://twitter.com/meditacionesdi1
http://www.instagram.com/meditacionesdiarias7
Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate
