DAILY DEVOTIONALS

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"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."
-- Matthew 13:44I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm talking about God's will for my life — including this wheelchair. When we embrace God's will, everything changes.

It’s very much like the parable of the hidden treasure. The key word in today’s verse is “bought.” We must buy the field. When we think of the field God wants us to buy, we assume it’s attractive, something we would love to purchase anyway, a sun-drenched meadow dappled with wildflowers. It rarely is. The field — that thing God wants us to embrace — is usually bleak (like a sandlot with broken bottles and old tires scattered here and there). Of course, once you know the scrubby field contains a treasure, the whole picture changes. The empty scrap of land suddenly brims with possibilities. Now we're ready to sell everything to buy it.

In my case, "selling everything" meant giving up self-pity and resentment over a body that no longer worked. Selling everything meant tossing aside the questions and investing the hours I sit in this wheelchair. It meant using that time in God's Word and in prayer (the pick and shovel needed to unearth the hidden treasure).

On the surface, my field still looks bleak — the paralyzed legs, the hands that don't work. Probably nobody else would want to buy this field. But to me, it's beautiful because underneath the surface is the treasure, the priceless treasure of knowing Jesus better. I agree with Matthew 13:44: it’s the kingdom of heaven.

What does your field look like? What treasures have you found thus far? What investments do you need to make to uncover other finds?

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Lord Jesus, as I survey the land I've bought at such a great price (I’ve given up my will, my preferences and my pride), help me to see the treasures it contains. Help me to remember that more treasure lies buried, ready to be dug up.

Tomorrow's Devotional

"Do you want more and more of God's kindness and peace? Then learn to know him better and better. For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us! And by that same mighty power he has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings he promised... But to obtain these gifts, you need more than faith; you must also work hard to be good, and even that is not enough. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do."
— 2 Peter 1:2-5, TLB

If you're like me, you're looking for ways to love God more. Not just to obey him, (although that's what proves we love him), but to love God with a passion. With spirited affection. Intense desire. I'm talking about longing to know God better and better with fire in your eyes and a furnace in your heart. The passage for today explains exactly how.

If you want to increase your desire for God, then get to know him in a deeper way. And there is no better way to know him than through his Word. Get into God's Word, and you will get a heart for Jesus. Get passionate about Scripture, and your passion for him will increase. Feelings follow faith…and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Take a look back over the past week. How much time did you spend in the Word? What does that say about the direction your relationship with Him is going? Mark down specific times in your calendar to be in the Word this upcoming week. Be realistic but stretch yourself a bit. After all, you want to know God better, don’t you?

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Lord God, help me to remember how amazing it is that You have revealed Yourself through the Word. Teach me to treasure Scripture more and to love You more through it.