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Treasure in Plain View

It was a day-long retreat inside the prison, and seated at our table were seven of us—six residents and me—amid a room of 125. The focus of the day was forgiveness and restoration, an always welcome topic and particularly so where the environment itself reminds us daily of our need for both. As we took turns sharing, a remarkable commonality emerged—the ripple effect of a transformed life. One man had asked forgiveness from his son for the man’s poor life choices; the son refused at first, but seeing over a period of several years a true change in his father, he not only forgave him, but became a believer, as well. Another shared a similar experience with his ex-wife with whom he remains friends today: it took years for her to accept the change in him, and but seeing his consistent growth and transformation, she now finds herself contemplating the gospel for her own life. Still another spoke of those who recognized in him a humility where arrogance once dominated. None of these men had set out to change anyone; rather it was God who worked through their testimonies of forgiveness and the witness of their transformed lives. Moreover, it took time for others to accept the forgiveness, restoration, and change in once-hardened souls.

We can take courage from these men, for sometimes we question whether our lives make a Kingdom difference at all. And at times our Christian witness seems to us an overwhelming burden to carry alone. Yet even our witness is God’s work in and through us, for as Paul explained to the early church, God “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”1 And God has willed to display this glory through an undeserving yet much loved us, for in Paul’s words, God has placed His “treasure in jars of clay.”2 Such wisdom! And how humbling.

Then may we “live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness,”3 that God would shine through us and be glorified before others, for this “pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”4 For people search for God, and He is most clearly visible in lives transformed—yours and mine. It may take time, but His work will be done through us. He will see to it. We can rest in this.

Father, how beautiful and how humbling that You would advance Your Kingdom through Your people. Shine in our hearts, that others would see You glorified through Your treasure in us, your jars of clay. Amen.

1 2 Corinthians 4:6
2 2 Corinthians 4:7
3 1 Timothy 2:2
4 1 Timothy 2:3-4

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Pardon over Parole

Hank1 was still incarcerated when I first met him, and now that he was released, I asked him about life on parole. “My parole experience has been a positive one,” he began, speaking from his charitable heart. As we talked, however, it became clear that “positive” didn’t mean “perfect”—that living on parole has its challenges, even for optimists like Hank. “The worst aspect of it is having to notify my parole officer of every movement. And it infringes not just upon me, but now upon my family. My wife comes under parole supervision: there are some Constitutional rights restrictions that she has to abide by, because she is married to me.” Though they live as free people among society—both he who was once incarcerated and she who never has been—they remain under the scrutiny of the penal system. Such is the nature of parole: it places additional duties and restrictions upon some otherwise living in liberty.

But not so, pardon! Freedom for those living under pardon is as complete as if they had never been convicted of their crimes in the first place. Their names are cleared of their wrongdoing (usually by a head-of-state), and all rights are restored. Any further repercussions are eliminated, gone forever. Of the two—pardon or parole—which would you prefer? Yeah, me too.

Sometimes we believers, who in Christ are free from sin, place ourselves and/or others back under the confines of the law, as if to strive for God’s favor by our own good efforts. Legalism can threaten liberty through worship style expectations, “service project” gold stars, or even the way we adorn ourselves. It is like having been pardoned, only to live under the expectations of parole. When this happened in the early Galatian church, Paul exhorted them, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”2 We might add: And don’t shackle others under our legalistic expectations, either! On another occasion Paul taught, “Through [Jesus Christ] everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”3 We who are liberated by the gift of pardon must not subject ourselves or anyone else to the demands of parole. Rather, Jesus has set us free, and “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”4

Father, thank You for freeing me from sin and the curse of the Law. Grace me to discern deceptions that would lure me away from grace, and fill me with great joy and power as one who has been forever pardoned. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Name has been changed for this post.
2 Galatians 5:1
3 Acts 13:39
4 John 8:36

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Devoted to Him Who Is Devoted to Us

Do you remember the crush you had in high school on someone who didn’t like you back in quite the same way? The girl I liked fancied a few guys and eventually chose one, but I was not even on her list. Unrequited love; teenage heartbreak. “Let’s just be friends.” (Sigh.) “OK.” (By the way, golf is like this, too, for some of us—though we love it, it merely likes us in return. But let’s not digress.)

Jesus taught the gathered crowd, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”1 It was a warning to choose wisely that in which we invest ourselves and place our affections: we can “store up for [ourselves] treasures on earth . . . [or] treasures in heaven.”2 And just to be clear, Jesus added, “You cannot serve both God and money”3—we must choose the object of our devotion. Sometimes, like the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable4, we prefer the Father’s blessings over the Father himself, for the allure of self-indulgence can be as overpowering as it is deceitful. God or things, things or God—which will we love, and which will we use?

But as to God’s devotion to us, there is no dilemma, there is no equivocating. Speaking through His prophet Joel to those who oppressed Israel, God declared the worth of His admittedly rebellious people: “For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem . . . ”5 Did you catch it? God’s people are His silver and gold. We are His finest treasures. He has chosen us as His own, and where His treasure is, there His heart will be also—with us.

Then may His steadfast love for us draw us in an unshakable love for Him, that He would be our finest treasure, as well. If we have esteemed earthly riches over the richness of God, or if we have tried impossibly to “serve both,” then let this be the turning point at which we redirect our devotion entirely to Him who is completely devoted to us. Like the prodigal son who “came to his senses”6 and returned home, we will discover our Father’s love for us to be far richer—and far more satisfying—than any worldly wealth without Him.

Father, grant me wisdom to seek You and only You. Your blessings will be there as You choose—I know this full well, for such is Your character and Your devotion toward Your people. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Matthew 6:21
2 Matthew 6:19-20
3 Matthew 6:24
4 See the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.
5 Joel 3:5-6
6 Luke 15:17