I cannot recommend writing ideas on post-it notes, folding them, and placing them on your writing desk. Granted, I did not lose the two I made that way. Also, because I did not have them stuck to my wall in sight and life has been absolutely wild in 2024, I haven’t written them yet. There’s a good handful of “needs to be done and hasn’t been quite finished yet”s and “I think it’s going to take too much time/energy/ect to do it right now”s in my life at the moment. So upon finding myself struggling to write, the audio book I was listening to auto-return to the library with 20 min left, and little motivation, I decided it was time -
Time to rekindle a little bit of wonder. And what better place to start than the pieces of Scripture that kindled wonder in me just a few weeks ago?
I’m still working on reading through the Gospels this year. I am also still in Matthew. But a few weeks ago, I got stuck on Matthew 13:44.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matt 13:44 ESV
It’s still a bit hard to put into words why this parable caused me to sit and wonder that evening. Sitting here thinking, it’s increasingly hard to put it into words. Because what a treasure that must have been. To desire to have it honestly, to know its worth and what was found, to not let anyone dissuade him, and the joy. It’s a baffling move. It’s a puzzling about as much as it is a pondering.
The kingdom of heaven… And, believe me or not completely unintentionally, leads me to my next post it note. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” Matt 6:33 ESV. Because what makes that kingdom worth seeking? The character and presence of God.
And the beautiful thing about that is, I described it as “a bluebird kind of feeling”. That would’ve been the title if I’d actually written it out on its own. A Bluebird Kind of Feeling - your heavenly father feeds them. Because sometimes, that’s the reminder we need.
It’s the reminder to look for beauty and wonder, even when it feels tough, because our Creator is good and wonderful. It’s a reminder to look for what makes me smile, like the bluebird I saw the other day with a nut in a tree. Little pieces of light. It’s the reminder to take a step back and ask, am I trusting in God’s provision? And even before that, am I trusting that God is good? Am I trusting in his love and his presence with me?
Those aren’t the sorts of questions to be asked lightly, and they’re the sort that don’t have a steady answer. Not because God changes, but because our experience in the world bears that full consequence of sin and death. There is good, there is beauty. God made creation, and it was good. But there’s also challenges, there is real evil that would have us choose the path of rebellion against God, and we don’t get all the answers we want.
But to come back to that treasure… Today I’m wondering, what did he do once he found that treasure? He didn’t steal it, to claim it for himself and keep it a secret. He didn’t haggle with the land owner, so they could claim it and keep it for themselves. He bought it, honestly. And if that treasure is the kingdom of God, and as a child of God I’ve been bought by the blood of Christ, then what a beautiful reminder of the God I serve - that Jesus truly did pay the highest cost that each and every one of us might have the joy of a restored relationship with him.
So why rekindling? Because there is wonder. That’s the beautiful thing about reading and writing. Storytelling is powerful, and like making any art, there’s just something special about it. And sometimes it can seem like the highest mountain that you have to climb in order to start. And sometimes it is. But other times you can approach it slowly, till it shrinks down to a shape you can manage. Not just for your own sake, but because there’s something God’s planning to do with what you do.
So thank you for sitting with me in Matthew today. And next time I’ll probably still be in Matthew. But if in this season I can read God’s word aloud, every evening that I’m able, even if it’s just a one sentence parable, then what a beautiful thing that is.
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