I still clearly remember him, sitting up there on the highest shelf of a store display, so that I had to crane my young neck back to stare in awe at his hulking form. I couldn’t reach him with my hands, but my imagination knew no such limitations as I imagined him free from his stifling box and sitting on the top shelf of my bedroom dresser. Tyrannosaurus Rex: The fiercest and most terrifying creature that has ever walked the earth. This snap-together model had been brilliantly created to inspire the same dread that the living beasts must have roused in their prey of ages past. He was so tall, that I had to measure if there was room for him between my shelf and my ceiling. And his moving jaws were filled with glow-in-the-dark teeth. I would gaze up at the box and imagine myself lying in bed, staring at his rows of fearsome teeth glowing in the night. I wanted this prize. I would save every penny until it was mine. And there came a day when he was. I saved and saved my dimes and quarters until I had the twenty-something dollars that he cost – and then – I took him home: a prize worthy of the price I had paid!
Children understand the excitement of a prize. Their eyes light up more easily at the thought of something new and wonderful than do the more road-weary eyes of grown-ups around them. And yet I’m sure we can all think of one thing or another that has captured our imagination and that we just had to have.
Many such things are gifts from God that He’s pleased we enjoy. But in the midst of enjoying such blessings, it is vital that the things of this earth not become our treasure. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). God wants to be the treasure we are most passionate about pursuing, and so we must regularly check our hearts to be sure that our relationship with God is still the greatest treasure we chase. Are we so enthralled with the Gospel that we are willing to spend whatever it takes to get it off a shelf and into our lives? It’s difficult in this culture of iPods and HDTVs and all-inclusive holidays, but all those things are pale in comparison to knowing the living God. Jesus is a King worthy of immeasurable awe, and the Gospel is a message of endless wonder. May we experience increased revelation of that this summer so that Jesus remains a treasure that outshines anything else we enjoy!
© 2008 by Ken Peters
© 2008 by Ken Peters
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