Dave contrasts a Depression-era hymn about heavenly mansions with Jesus' parable of the hidden treasure, arguing that the kingdom of heaven is worth selling everything for. He asks what the kingdom means to you personally and how you're living it out.
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Hi, this is Dave on the Edge. There's an old song that— one of my favorites, a hymn out of the old hymnal that says, "I've got a mansion just over the hilltop in that bright land where we'll never grow old." And in the song it talks about gold and jewels and rubies and all the things that we'll have in heaven. And when you realize where that song came from, that it came from the Great Depression and people wrote it speaking about when we get to heaven we'll have all the things we don't have here, It makes sense that those things are in there. But when I think about heaven, the last thing I really think about wanting is, "Oh, I want to go to heaven so I can be rich." There's wealth all around us nowadays, and it's not something we seek after as much when we think about what God will give us. But Jesus told a story about heaven, and he said that there was a man walking through a field, and he found a treasure in the field. And he went and sold everything that he had so that he could buy that field so that he could get that treasure. He said, "Because that is like the kingdom of heaven, that when you find it," you're willing to sell everything you have in order to have it. Jesus spoke to the heart of his listeners and he spoke to their needs. He spoke to what he knew they would want. And so if Jesus came to us today, if he spoke into your life and into your experience, what would he say to you that the kingdom of heaven is like? Would he say that the kingdom of heaven is like a rich, wealthy place? Is that what you're seeking after? Would he say that the kingdom of heaven is like a a loving friend? Would he say that the kingdom of heaven is like somebody who cares for the sick? I think that if Jesus came into our life— well, we know that he would— he would speak in a way that drew us towards the kingdom of heaven. And what he said the kingdom of heaven is like would actually reflect what we are seeking in life. What is the kingdom of heaven for you? How are you leading it into the world now and bringing it to people? This has been Dave on the Edge. Where do you stand?
