I fancy myself a treasure hunter.
No, I don’t go deep-sea diving in search of sunken pirate ships or travel to distant jungles to unearth ancient civilizations. And I definitely don’t follow cryptic maps, hoping that X marks the spot.
I do go to garage sales, however. I visit thrift shops and watch The Antiques Roadshow. I’m always hoping to find that 1952 Mickey Mantle Rookie Card, an autographed Elvis Presley record, or a first edition To Kill a Mockingbird.
Christians, by their very nature, are treasure hunters. After telling a variety of parables about how God’s Word works, Jesus told his disciples, “Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matthew 13:52).
In other words, when you study God’s Word, it’s like going into your attic to bring down boxes of old Christmas decorations. As you rummage through them, you discover old decorations you haven’t seen or used in years. You find the old ornaments your kids made in grade school and the snow globe your grandma gave you years ago.
The boxes are full of dust and smiles and tears.
And then you find a small box you don’t ever remember seeing. It must have belonged to the former owners of the house. You open it to find a cache of old baseball cards. You read the names: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner – every treasure hunter’s dream.
That’s what we experience as Christians when we dig deep into God’s Word.
We find old treasures that we haven’t seen in years. We rediscover the stories of God’s grace and goodness that we heard in Sunday School. We find the verses we marked in our Bibles when dad died, when the kids were baptized, when the pastor helped us through that rough patch in our marriage. We are reminded of the truths of forgiveness, peace, and salvation that we learned as children and still cling to in our old age.
But we also find new treasures.
My father is a pastor. I attended Christian elementary school, junior high, and high school. I went to a Christian college and seminary. I have been a pastor for 26 years, and I am still learning new things from God’s Word – I am still finding new treasures.
Part of my job as a pastor is to help people discover the joys of being a treasure hunter. God’s Word is packed with jewels of wisdom to help us with our everyday lives. It is overflowing with the precious comfort of God’s promises. It reveals rare and valuable truths to help you navigate this life as you make your way to the next.
So, if you’ve gotten away from it for a while, come back to church. Dust off your Bible. Open it. Rediscover the joy of treasure hunting.
The cross marks the spot.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon.com.
