What do you treasure?
When, in the First Book of Kings, God approaches Solomon and says, Ask something of me and I will give it you, Solomon’s response is unexpected. After all, he is only fifteen, a mere youth. But Solomon is conscious of the limitations of his age, and so he demonstrates humility and a knowledge of all that he lacks in order to reign effectively. Thus, Solomon asks for an understanding heart, a heart that listens and is obedient to the word of God, so that it might judge justly and know right from wrong. God is exceedingly generous to Solomon; God gives him a heart that is wise and understanding, such that Solomon will be able to see as God sees, the very definition of wisdom in that it means Solomon will conform entirely to God’s will.
Psalm 119 posits the Lord’s commands as the psalmist’s most precious treasure: The law of your mouth is to me more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces, he writes. If true wisdom is to see as God sees, does this not include the ability to grasp the significance of God’s laws from within, knowing, as God knows, what is good and what is just? Paul will tell the Roman community that all things work for good for those who love God.
In Christian terms, the treasure evoked here is salvation, the full realization of God’s eternal plan for us, as Paul describes to the Romans. To be predestined, called, justified and glorified is to experience the waterfall of God’s blessings, all forms of treasure that ultimately coalesce in resurrection, the ultimate treasure of a life lived in wisdom and obedience. Jesus will likewise address humankind’s appreciation of its treasure in his parables in Matthew’s Gospel. When we read of a man who will sell all that he has to buy a field in which he knows a treasure is buried, or a merchant who will sell all that he has to buy a pearl of great price, we must asks ourselves if we, too, are willing to give all we have to gain the kingdom of God. The kingdom is a treasure whose value we only recognize once we have it – and even then, it surpasses our expectations. If we are to enter into the eternal kingdom of God, we must be the good that is put into buckets, recognized as righteous in the eyes of God. For the kingdom of God is of inestimable value, an extraordinary treasure that comes from God alone, a gift freely given. How do we live out of knowledge of that treasure, knowledge that salvation is ours, knowledge, ultimately, of the great treasure that is the vast and immeasurable love of God?
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