What do you treasure most in your life?

When Jesus speaks in the Bible, there are a number of times He will say, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..." and then He usually follows it with a parable. For the next two weeks we're discussing two of my favorite parables - "The Parable of Hidden Treasure" and The Pearl of Great Value."

In Paul David Tripp's book Redeeming Money, Tripp says that "the central message of these two parables is the incalculable value of the kingdom of God."

So, what is the kingdom of God and how does it impact me?

Tripp expains that "the kingdom of heaven is "God's gracious plan of redemption for us and the world that we live in. What is the treasure of great value and the pearl of great price? It is Christ Himself and His gift of forgiving, rescuing, transforming, and delivering grace.

These two parables argue that there's nothing more valuable than God's gift of His Son of grace, and there's nothing more worth celebrating than the redemption that comes with that grace.

The parables demonstrate if you properly value this Treasure, this Pearl, it will radically alter the choices you make and the actions you take in your everyday life."