The Pastor’s Blog – HUNTING FOR TREASURE

It was a beautiful day, with the sun finally breaking through after two days of hard rain. My wife and I walked hand in hand along the beach, the waves crashing rhythmically as seagulls and other birds sang us their songs. I was walking along blissfully enjoying the moment when suddenly my wife stopped dead in her tracks.

What was happening? Did she see a whale? A seal? An eagle? A bear? Did she turn her ankle, or had we inadvertently dropped something? Why were we stopping?

My wife gracefully stooped down and started to look over the stones. Slowly and carefully she picked up a stone, looked it over, and either cradled it in her arms as a “keeper,” or dropped it. Then she looked over the next stone, and the next. I watched as she carefully chose about a dozen stones out of the hundreds of stones she looked at (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration).

Now to be honest, as I looked at the stones they all looked the same to me. They were round, grey and hard. My wife tried to educate me on how each one had its unique beauty, and pointed out the quartz lines that ran around the perimeter of the stones. She showed how each had a unique shape – no two were alike.
Sadly, I never came to appreciate the stones the way my wife did. In fact, I got tired of looking at the stones and started to rush my wife’s search for treasure. I quickly put six of her stones in my pockets and said, “Let’s go.”

So what is the point of this story? I am so glad God is like my wife and not like me. There are 7.5 billion people on this earth, and a quick glance would say we are not that different. Yet God stoops down and gentle holds each of us in his hand, looks us over, and smiles. God sees that unique grin, that twinkle in your eye, that strong chin, those long piano-playing fingers, that mole on your neck. He sees what makes each one of us unique and special, and He loves us!

My wife lovingly put her chosen stones in our garden at the house. God invites us to be a part of his garden, something the scriptures call the Kingdom of God. Unlike the stones, you get a choice. So, do you want to be part of God’s treasure?

– Pastor Gary

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