Filled with Joy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

FILLED WITH JOY

Matt 13:44

44 "The kingdom of heaven is like 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.

NIV

Another parable, however, is much shorter than many of the others, but just as important in understanding the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom may be like a treasure hidden in a field, but it is a treasure in this world. For some it still might be hidden, that is they are unaware of the kingdom of heaven and are not even trying to find it. We are not told how this man found the treasure in the field, or how well it was hidden. What some might think is this was a treasure chest of indescribable wealth, but then if that was the hidden treasure, he could have carried it off without buying the field. It might make more sense if this hidden treasure was something like a gold mine that in order for him to dig it up, he would have to buy the field. However, this is a parable and so the point is that man found the secret of the kingdom of heaven, he discovered the truth of the gospel for the salvation of his soul. Now he kept that to himself at first to go and sell everything he had to buy the field. Again, in a parable, the man did not sell all his possessions but repented of all his sin. Surely, when we found that hidden treasure, we did not sell our home to have the kingdom of heaven, but we did repent of our sinful way of life, we turned from everything in order to enter the kingdom. Our joy was so great, that it was so easy to abandon our old way of life, and even those old friends who would rather drag us back into that old life, than join in our joy. The kingdom or the gospel is like a gold mine in some sense, filled the veins of truth that we need to dig up and refine into pure gold. The gospel is of such great value, more than anything else in the world. What physical pleasure can bring eternal joy? We might see some pleasure in things, but that is a fleeting pleasure, and mostly only momentary pleasure. But the kingdom of heaven, the gospel that gives us eternal life is a joy and pleasure that lasts for an eternity. It is sad, in some respects, that we can find believers walking around with a downcast countenance, seemingly with no joy. This is not a condemnation of them, for that would be so wrong on so many levels, but the fact is we do need to live joyfully, full of joy, and not overwhelmed by the burdens of this life. Yes, we can experience certain amounts of pain or ailments in our bodies, and at times it can become tiresome. Yes, we may have to endure some challenges in this life with our financial situation, or in our careers or professional path we travel, even if that is in ministry. However, because we are in Christ and we have eternal life, that is enough for us to walk joyfully in this world. Like that little chorus says, if you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. If you are happy and you know it, stump your feet, clap your hands, and shout hurray, do all three. Let your whole body show your happiness and be filled with joy.