ODJ: treasure
June 18, 2011
You refuse to come to Me to receive this life (v.40).
READ: John 5:31-47
Several years ago, I discovered our son Seth sitting in our comfy khaki chair with a theology book in hand. He held the book in front of him, staring at the pages. He would not be distracted. It was quite serious; he was reading. Mind you, Seth was 2 years old.
I can’t imagine what Seth believed he was “reading.” He mumbled something about it being a “scary story.” The volume Seth was holding told about seeing Jesus in the everyday world. But Seth couldn’t see Jesus in the chapters. He didn’t know what to look for.
While it’s good to dig diligently into Scripture, it’s more important to remember what it is we’re actually digging for in God’s Word. We aren’t looking primarily for a fact, ideology, or doctrine. We’re looking for Jesus—the one George Whitefield called “the treasure hid in the field.” Jesus is the treasure.
Jesus once confronted a group of religious hypocrites who bragged of their knowledge of God, even though they had “never heard [God’s] voice,” and bragged about their knowledge of Scriptures, even though they didn’t have the Scripture’s “message in [their] hearts” (John 5:37-38). These religious leaders knew the Scripture’s words but knew nothing of the Word living in the Scripture. They came to the pages, but missed the treasure.
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life,” Jesus said. “But the Scriptures point to
Me!” (v.39).
Often I come to Scripture in search of an answer. If I don’t find exactly what I expect the Bible to tell me, I can become frustrated because it doesn’t fit with my views. But if Jesus is the treasure, then Scripture is not first concerned with giving me what I insist I need. Scripture’s first concern is leading me to true treasure . . . to Jesus. —Winn Collier
How are you more often tempted to use the Bible for answers than as a way to discover Jesus? How do you need to search God’s Word differently in order to see Him as your true treasure?
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