Treasuring Christ in Transition
by Jonathan & Lynne Zavodney • Sep 30, 2024
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field, which when a man finds it, he conceals it, and because of his joy, he departs, and sells everything he has, and he buys that field.
Matthew 13:44
Moving 634 miles from our biological family, 502 miles from our church family, one and a half months before our first child arrives, to a land we do not know with people we do not know… why? The short answer is because we found a treasure hidden in a field worth selling all, giving all—even our very lives—for.
In Matthew 13:44, the kingdom of heaven is likened to such a treasure. Exclusively Matthew talks all about this “kingdom of heaven”: John, Jesus, and the twelve preach its arrival (3:2; 4:17; 10:7); Jesus tells about its citizens (5:3, 10, 19, 20; 18:3, 4) and speaks about its nature (13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47; 18:23; 19:14; 20:1; 22:2; 25:1). What becomes clear in Matthew is that Jesus is the King of this kingdom and that to find the kingdom is to find the King, our true treasure.
The rest of the New Testament highlights the fact that Jesus is indeed incomparably valuable: Paul considers everything as rubbish because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus (Phil 3:8); in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3); for Jesus, Peter and the others rejoiced that they were ‘counted worthy to suffer’ (Acts 5:41); before Jesus every knee in all creation will bow (Phil 2:10); Jesus is appointed heir of all things; through Jesus God created the world; Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory; Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature; and Jesus upholds the universe by His powerful word (Heb 1:2–3); and of Jesus, the slain-yet-living Lamb, do we read that innumerable masses in heaven, on the earth and under the earth shout, “Worthy!” while falling down in worship (Rev 5:11–14). The glimpses we catch of Jesus in the New Testament highlight His incomparable value.
Jesus as our true and greatest treasure may be an easy concept to grasp in the abstract: of all the loves in our lives—love of cool cars, ice cream, a good book, hot tea during a thunderstorm, a job, family, and so on—Jesus is at the top of the list. But what it looks like to “treasure Christ above all” is sometimes harder to grasp, so we’ve come up with a few examples. Treasuring Christ above all can look like…
A highschool sophomore eating lunch with a lonely fellow student with down syndrome despite the ridicule of other students;
A family opening their home for meals to people in the church and outside the church;
A vice president giving away 80% of his salary to ministry and missions;
A ten-year-old sharing a favorite baseball glove with a mean neighbor boy who doesn’t have one;
Responding to a hurtful comment not with anger or defensiveness but with patience and gentleness;
A retiree giving his or her time more wholly to discipleship and evangelism;
A mother sacrificing time, energy, and preferences for the sake of her children day after day after day;
Weekly attending the gathering where Christ’s word is sung, taught, prayed, read, seen, and preached;
And for us, moving 634 miles from our biological family, 502 miles from our church family, one and a half months before our first child arrives, to a land we do not know with people we do not know.
All these considered, a pattern emerges: treasuring Christ above all means that we strive with all the strength God supplies (1) to position ourselves in the places where Christ is found (His church and His word) and (2) when faced with the decision about what to think about, what to say, or what to do, to choose the thought, the words, the deed that would honor Jesus, that would bring Him the most pleasure, and in this way worship Him as the King of creation and Treasure of our souls.
So then, the three Z’s moved across country—634 miles from our biological family, 502 miles from our church family, one and a half months before Baby arrives—because we are on a journey to treasure Christ above all for God’s glory and for the joy of all peoples, making the most of our short sojourn. This step was simply the next step in that journey. Perhaps a better title, then, would be “Treasuring Christ unto Transition” for it is our desire to honor Him with our lives that ultimately led to our accepting the recent call He put on our lives.
FURTHER STUDY
What Is Saving Faith?: Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure by John Piper
