Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

When I’m shopping at a thrift store or flea market and something catches my eye, the first thing I do is look at the price tag. The second thing I do is ask myself if there’s anywhere to put it in my home! In these second-time-around stores, I’ve discovered magnificent old family portraits that should have been displayed in a loved one’s home because they are beautiful treasures. I’m saddened when I see precious family pictures being offered for some stranger to purchase. Why weren’t these photos treated with love, honor and respect and kept in the family? Because the treasure was treated as a trinket of little value.

When Jesus taught His disciples the parable about the hidden treasure a man discovered on a plot of land, He was not implying that we can purchase or work our way into heaven. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field” (Matthew 13:44 MLT). He was teaching a serious truth that the kingdom of heaven is of such great value that we should be willing to give up all we have in order to gain it. Since there were no banks, treasure was often buried in fields for safekeeping. The supreme value of the hidden treasure (the kingdom of heaven) is worth more than the  sacrifice one can make to acquire it.

It’s worth the cost for believers to follow Christ and live according to His Word. And then when our last breath is drawn, heaven will be worth the price of not compromising our conscience, devotion to God, integrity, reputation, loyalty, and faithfulness. Whatever it costs us to obey God and do the right thing is worth it. Keeping our eyes on The Prize is key. Of course, Christ followers must realize we can’t be so heavenly minded that we’re of no earthly value. Everything we do must be weighed and compared against the individualized assignment God gave us. It’s easy to get sidetracked and bumfuzzled when we ignore our calling, forget the treasure, and go our own way. Being the hands and feet of Jesus is worth the cost of personal sacrifice.

We’re trained for the Kingdom of Heaven while we live on planet earth. Our routine life is the daily battlefield where we get to activate our training. Dad trained for 16 weeks at Camp Fannin, Texas before he was shipped out to the frontlines of Germany in 1944. Army training and spiritual training are similar. If we don’t learn to respect authority, follow instructions, and pay attention to our enemy, we won’t be on the survivor list.

The song, “Heaven Will Surely Be Worth It All” was written in 1946 with lyrics by W. Oliver Cooper. I usually share the lyrics of a mentioned song, but in this case the title says it all. We mustn’t think of heaven as a natural occurrence at the end of the rainbow of life. We can’t merely hope, do good deeds, or buy our way into heaven. Nor can we ignore the glorious treasure of it and stuff it into an empty drawer. One day a bystander asked Jesus, “Lord, will only a few have eternal life?” Jesus responded to the crowd, “There is a great cost for anyone to enter through the narrow doorway to God’s kingdom realm. I tell you, there will be many who will want to enter but won’t be able to. For once the head of the house has shut and locked the door, it will be too late” (Luke 13:24,25 TPT). Eternal life is a priceless gift for the child of God, not an earned reward.

The Key: The Kingdom of Heaven is a treasure and not a trinket to be treated lightly.

For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.        Jeremiah 31:25

Jesus needed solitude. We are no different. And if we’re not going to find that rest, God might need to find it for us.

I have been blessed with good health. For that, I am immensely grateful. So, when I recently ended up in the hospital in Mazatlán, Mexico, with a severe allergic reaction, I was shocked at how quickly I lost my energy and found the simplest tasks (like getting out of bed) challenging.  Just two days before, I had played tennis, attended social events and run errands.  No longer.  My get-up-and-go, got-up-and-went when a pierogi (apparently) sent me to the E.R.…a delicious pierogi given me by a friend.  A sweet gesture that poisoned my body.

I have already written about the encouragement I received from loved ones.  Juliette, my long-time friend from Florida, understood my discouragement, as daily I thought I would be released but then would relapse.  On day five, I had a melt-down when I was told I needed more time in the hospital.  Juliette’s words were timely: “…You are safe.  Warm.  Cared for.  It could be so much worse.  You got this.  It’s just a matter of another day or two.  Relax.  Surrender.  Be the light someone there needs you to be.”

Read that last sentence again. And again.  Staring at those words, I realized that no matter what I was going through (and yes, it could have been much, much worse), God had a plan for me to stop being consumed with myself and to be a blessing to someone else. Physically, I was exhausted, but that didn’t mean I was to let that affect me spiritually.  Juliette reminded me of a higher purpose.

With limited Spanish, I took her words to heart, looked beyond my lethargy and sought ways to be grateful to the staff: for the nurses’ ability to administer painless IV’s, for how they rapidly answered my call button; for the team of doctors that met daily to modify my medications; for cleaning ladies who came in twice a day, smiling while they worked; and for the dozens of employees who had learned English to better serve us gringos. When I said, “Dios te bendiga” (God bless you), they beamed.

Once I began following Jesus’ advice (“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”), I was able to take the focus off of myself and put it on others. The longer I had remained frustrated over my condition, I was not ministering to others or myself.  I was not honoring God.  Here He had given me days to have quiet fellowship with Him, and I had squandered much of it, fretting over things that drew me away from His provision.

I am home now, doing great, taking meds, and visiting with friends.  One of them asked me what I’ve learned from this. I told her I have learned to trust in the Lord…but not in a pierogi.