Buy the Field!

“…and because of joy, goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44 

The story of this parable seems straight-forward.  A man found a treasure, hid it in a field, then went and sold all that he had and bought the field.  We are not told if it was gold, silver, or diamonds, but he totally sold out to buy it.  Why did he have to sell out?    Why did he buy the field?  Why didn’t he just take the treasure home? Here’s the explanation: 

In the parable, you and I were represented by the man who found the treasure.  The problem was, it now belonged to the owner of the field.  We hid our treasure because we didn’t know what to do with it.  Since it was in the field, we had to go get some money to buy the field.  The cost was staggering. We had to sell everything we had.  The owner wouldn’t sell just the treasure to us; we had to buy the whole field. This is a perfect picture of grace.  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9. Grace comes into our possession at no cost to us, but it is hidden in a field.  The only way we can access this grace is to pay the ultimate price.  Free grace costs everything you have!  But, don’t let that stop you.  The man who spent all to buy the field knew that he was going to come out so far ahead that the price he had to pay was laughable. 

The gospel can’t be stolen.  It doesn’t come as a stand-alone commodity, as though you “cherry-pick” what you want and discard the rest.  No, that’s not the way to come to Jesus.  If you want the tree, you have to buy the forest.  If you want the Son, you have to buy the universe that comes with him.  If you want Jesus, you have the buy the field.  And, nothing is more important than your salvation!  Make whatever sacrifices necessary.  Lose your baggage.  Abandon your personal dreams, ambitions, goals and loves to get it.  But note this: when you buy the field, you have to buy all of its challenges.  Some people want the blessing and benefits, but not the trials and tests.  Some want the signs, wonders and miracles, but not the prayer, fasting and sacrifice.  Some want the power of Pentecost without the stigma of being Pentecostal.  Some want to be holy without being holy!  Some want Christ the Savior, but not Christ the Lord.  But the Bible says that God hath made this same Jesus…both Lord and Christ.  Salvation is the coin of the realm, but Lordship is the other side of the same coin.  

Buy the field!  Yes, there may be some weeds, some mice, some dead trees, some garbage, some ants, wasps and bees.  Discipleship forces you out of your precious comfort zone.  You have to fast, pray, give, sacrifice … but you are teaching your flesh a spiritual lesson.  Life doesn’t consist of eating or drinking.  It is every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!  Buy the field because that’s where the treasure is! 

God never lets you down.  He never gives you an even exchange, because when you buy the field, you get more than the treasure.  When you buy the field, you get Jesus.  And when you get Jesus, you always get more than you thought you were getting.  You’re like the man who bought a field for the stand of hardwood trees.  Unknown to him, there was a mother lode of buried gravel worth much more than the trees.  In excavating for the gravel, he struck oil!  Was he ever happy he bought the field!  When you get Jesus, you get more than an answer; you get all the answers to all the problems in the world!  You get life more abundantly.  You get more than a hug; you get a marriage proposal!  Buy the field!