Look for the Buried Treasure - Martin Wiles

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. Ezekiel 36:26 NLT

I walked by it numerous times but never knew it was there.

As I stood by our front door, waiting on my wife, I saw one of the many squirrels scampering through our neighborhood subdivision, doing what squirrels do. Except for a few oaks, our neighborhood had no nut-producing trees. I often wondered what these squirrels constantly buried.

I observed him scooting about our small front yard on this particular day. Suddenly, he stopped at a particular place, positioned his tiny front feet for digging, and got to work. Within seconds, he had unearthed a pecan, which he promptly placed between his front teeth. Our yard held a buried treasure I knew nothing about.

We find a buried treasure of greater importance in the innermost parts of everyone who follows Jesus Christ. Ezekiel prophesied of a time when God would give the Spirit in a new way.

God’s Holy Spirit is every believer’s buried treasure. It is not buried in that it cannot be located but in the sense that the Spirit is an untapped resource for successful living for many. Just as buried treasure does no one any good as long as it’s buried, the indwelling Spirit doesn’t either if we don’t tap into his power.

God gives his Spirit the moment we trust his Son as our Savior. If we unearth the power of his presence, he will provide unexplainable comfort when we need it. Since life is tough and regularly tosses bombshells our way, we need this comfort regularly. His comfort is a feeling deep inside that everything will be all right because God loves us and is in control.

God’s Spirit also strengthens us to keep going when times are tough, when others oppose our work for God, and when disappointment and depression zap our energy level.

A further advantage of God’s buried treasure is the gifts he gives for work in God’s service. Our work for God would be impossible to complete with any notable track record without his Spirit awarding us with callings, talents, and unique gifts.

Unearth the power of God’s buried treasure.

Father, thank you for the presence and power of your Spirit, who gives me the authority and strength to do the work you’ve called me to do. 

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God’s Masterpiece - Martin Wiles

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT

Oblivious to the treasure I had, I placed the bowl on the kitchen table and filled it with old plastic vegetables.

When my wife and I began dating, we discovered both of us loved old things. Her passion was carnival glass, something I’d never heard of and knew nothing about.  

One day, she looked at the bowl sitting on the table and said, “That’s carnival glass.”

We removed the old vegetables and cleaned up the bowl that had belonged to my great grandmother’s mother. There were no markings, so we decided to take it to an antique dealer friend and see what they could find out. Imagine our surprise when we were told it was an early piece of Fenton worth several hundred dollars. Needless to say, we didn’t return it to the table and fill it with plastic vegetables. We proudly displayed it in a safe and noticeable place where its true beauty could shine.

Paul says believers are masterpieces even though I sometimes don’t feel or act like one. But my feelings and actions don’t change the facts. God sees the finished work; I see the work in progress. And a painting in process often looks ugly or like nothing at all.

While I may not appear as much to others, God sees me as extremely valuable. So valuable that He let His Son die for my sins instead of making me pay for them. And although I make many mistakes and foibles along the way, with God anything is possible. He has the power to form me into what He wants me to be. All I must do is cooperate and seek His wisdom and guidance.

Having had the blood of Christ applied to my life, I am worth more than others might think and more than I could ever imagine—but only because I am in Christ and have been created by a loving God.

Although sin mars the masterpiece God is painting, the forgiveness of Christ restores its beauty. Others may say you are nothing, but God says you are something. He wants to take all the clutter away, wash you up, and display you as His. A beautiful work of art.

In God’s eyes, you are of inestimable value. Live as God sees you.

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Prayer: Father, may we live out in action, attitudes, and words the people we truly are. 

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Chasing the Worthless - Martin Wiles

But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. Ecclesiastes 2:11 NLT

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” 

My morning walks take me through a subdivision we once lived in. The president of the homeowner’s association is given a yearly stipend to purchase flowers and other related gardening items for her yard. When she does, she takes her old stuff and places it by the road for the city collectors to collect.

One morning, I noticed she had done her annual renovation. As normal, she left some good things beside the road—two large flower pots with floral designs. A little fading from the sun didn’t bother me. I scooped them up and transported them to my house. My wife would love them, especially after we filled them with flowers.

When I was a middle-schooler and a teenager, I wanted what my peers had. Brand names for clothing and shoes were important. I was no different than any young person who cares and wants what his peers have. As I’ve gotten older, I no longer care. I’ll be glad to take someone else’s trash and make it my treasure. And doing so certainly saves money.

King Solomon had the money to buy anything he wanted—and did. When he finished searching for happiness in things and dead-end relationships, he classified his pursuits—and what he was still pursuing—as meaningless. His efforts parroted chasing the wind.

Had I learned Solomon’s lessons as a young man, I could have saved myself a lot of debt, time, and aggravation. I’d also have more money in the bank. But those pursuits are water under the bridge. Now I live out his conclusions and try to make better decisions.

While there is nothing wrong in enjoying material possessions—as long as they don’t put me in debt, aren’t sinful, and don’t become my sole aim in life—they are not where true happiness and contentment lay. I don’t have to have the best to be happy. Happiness is found when I realize Christ dwells in me and when I allow Him to be my sole source of contentment. Everything—and everyone—else will eventually disappoint.

Security and self-worth are not found in or based on stuff we might possess. They are enjoyed when we realize whom we belong to. New pots may look appealing, but old ones will serve the same purpose.

Find your worth and enjoyment in Christ, not stuff.

Prayer: Father, teach us where true happiness and enjoyment lay—in a relationship with You, not things. 

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