Consider Jesus! He IS our Treasure!

Good Morning!!  I hope you have had a week full of CONSIDERING JESUS!!!  I am so excited for us to continue our journey of following the command found in Hebrews 3:1 which says this, “Therefore Holy brothers and sisters who share in the Heavenly calling, CONSIDER (Fix your thoughts on, Set your minds on, Think carefully about) JESUS…!”  If you wonder WHY it is important for us to Consider Jesus, to KNOW Him intimately, I want us to think about what  John 17:3 declares to us, “Now THIS is Eternal Life:  That they KNOW you, the ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent!”  Eternal Life is KNOWING JESUS!!  Not just in an intellectual way, but in a deeply personal, intimate way!  Eternal Life is the life-long process of KNOWING our Lord and Savior deeply!  This is why we take up this call to “Consider Jesus” with the utmost vigor, joy, and seriousness!  Remember that to “consider” means to understand fully, and to “Know” means to have an intimate relationship with.  We have the opportunity to daily grow in our understanding of our Lord and deepen our relationship with Him!  May we never take that for granted, but may we press on to know and love Him more!

Today, I want us to CONSIDER the VALUE of Jesus!  I want us to think about the fact that He is more valueable than anything this world has to offer!  He is worthy of ALL we have!  I was thinking about the words of Paul in Philippians 3:8 which says this in the Amplified version, “I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ.”  In regards to this incredible passage we may also remember the parable Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13:44 which says, “44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.”  The question on my mind is what is the VALUE of JESUS to us?  What is He worth?  Do we realize that He and He alone is worthy of ALL we have?  Are we willing to Consider Everything else as LOSS compared to the Incomparable value of KNOWING Jesus Christ!  As I had been contemplating this, I remembered when my children were little and we were teaching them a lesson.  I remembered one of them having saved up many pennies.  After having been asked to bring them to us, our child carried out all the pennies they had, which took both their small hands.  They desperately tried to keep their treasure safe in their hands as they cupped it carefully.  We had wanted them to do this so that we could exchange all those pennies for something far more valuable, a twenty dollar bill.  Now this may seem like a no brainer situation for us, but to a child who can see that what they are holding is far heavier and far more in quantity than ONE single paper bill, the choice was not so easy.  The option was given that if they would let go of all the pennies they were holding so tightly, they would be able to take hold of this twenty dollar bill.  Our child looked at the small bill being offered to them and then again at their hands, tightly clutching the multitude of pennies, and decided that what they had was more valuable to them than this one paper bill.  I realized, at that moment, that we are not so different!  We try so desperately to hold onto all this world has to offer.  We cling to our jobs, our relationships, our reputation, our knowledge, our material possessions, and our money with such a tight grip.  We believe that what we are trying to hold onto is of the utmost value.  Jesus, however, comes to us and says, “If you are willing to let go of your hold on those things, I want to give you something of far Greater value!  I want to give you Relationship with ME!  I want to give you Eternal Life with ME!  But, you must be willing to let those things that you have been clinging to so desperately, go!  You must be willing to lay them down, so that you are free to take hold of ME!”  If we can see the Truth, that if we have Jesus, we have MORE than we could EVER need, if we can understand that HE is our Treasure, we could join Paul and say, “I Consider Everything a LOSS, compared to the surpassing value of KNOWING JESUS!”  Something I love about this portion of Philippians is what it says in verse 7.  It says, “Whatever gain (or things of value) I had, I COUNTED as loss for the sake of Christ.”  Then in verse 8 it says this, “What is MORE, I COUNT Everything as loss compared to the Surpassing value of Knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord…”  I want us to catch something very neat here.  At one time, Paul realized the Value of Knowing Jesus as Lord.  He knew that all he had gained in this world was garbage compared to Knowing Jesus.  He states that, at one time, he COUNTED (past tense) everything he had valued as loss for the sake of Christ.  Maybe you too, at one time, had counted everything as loss for the sake of Christ, but notice that it did not stop there for Paul.  Not only had he COUNTED all else as loss at one time, but WHAT IS MORE is that he COUNTS (present tense) Everything as loss compared to knowing Christ!  This is both a one-time decision, and a life-long continual process!  It is a question we must ask ourselves daily, “What is the Value of Jesus to me?”  Is there anything I am trying to pick up again and hold onto other than Jesus?  Do I still, today, see NOTHING in life as more valuable than knowing Jesus?  Am I willing to sacrifice all else that would keep me from KNOWING Him more?  My hope is that we would consider the Value of Jesus today.  That we would be willing to lay all else down so we may take hold of Jesus Christ!  He is our Portion!  With Him, we have MORE than we will ever need!  “Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.”  CONSIDER JESUS, Your Most Prized TREASURE!  Cling to HIM!

Scriptures to Meditate on:  Phil. 3:7-9, John 17:3, Matt. 13:44, Matt. 6:21