BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Matthew 18:12-14, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”

Here Jesus tells a story that shows the individual value of each and every one of us to the Father. God knows about you. He knows where he wants you to be and when you have wandered off from that place. He doesn’t just stop caring about you when you go astray. In fact quite the opposite. He cares about you so much that he will stop everything to go and find you.

Now that is an image of love. You are his child. He cares about YOU.

Let’s really examine ourselves – How angry would we get if we have a problem sheep that keeps wandering? It’s wandering causes extra work for us. Every time that one sheep goes astray it takes us away from all our other sheep who are staying put. Eventually, wouldn’t we be willing to just let that sheep go and focus on the 99 that stay where they’re supposed to be?

Wouldn’t we label that one wanderer as our problem child and grow in resentment? Wouldn’t we begin to talk bad about that wayward sheep, comparing it to the others who stay close to us? And wouldn’t that one sheep that causes us stress and anxiety be a little harder to love?

But Jesus tells us our heavenly Father will relentlessly search for us. He will do whatever it takes. And when he finds us, he will rejoice over us. He will celebrate that we’re no longer lost. The Father isn’t focused on the time and work it took to get that wandering sheep back. He has zero regret and no shame or guilt to put on the sheep – only joy.

Could this really be our God with us? Could this truly be the way he looks at us when we wander?

Notice Jesus says this sheep wanders away. Away from what? Away from the shepherd’s care. Away from the rest of the flock. Away from where it’s supposed to be.

Why would it do that? Why would it leave green pastures? Why would it stray from the clear path? Because a sheep gets another thought in its head and those thoughts lead it’s feet. The sheep doesn’t have to be bad to become lost. It just has to wander.

And isn’t that how it happens with us? Most of us don’t wake up one morning and say, “Today I’m going to walk away from God.” We wander.

One thought leads to another thought. One desire leads to another desire. One compromise leads to another compromise. One distraction becomes a habit. One hurt becomes resentment. One curiosity becomes an obsession. And before we know it, we’re standing somewhere we never intended to be.

My sister, right now at this moment – are you standing somewhere you never intended to be? You didn’t intentionally run off to get here. You wandered here. Now you’re lost.

You’re not bad, you’re just lost. The shepherd doesn’t hate you, he lost you. He loves you, so he comes looking for you. Not to punish you, but to bring you back to where is best.

The sheep probably didn’t think it was leaving the shepherd. It probably thought, “What’s over here? Maybe there’s better grass over there. Maybe I’ll just wander a little bit. Maybe I want some space. Maybe I want to see what’s on the other side of that hill.”

And that’s the danger of wandering. You don’t usually feel lost while you’re doing it. You feel curious. You feel independent. You feel like you’re making your own choices. But eventually you look up and realize, “I’m a long way from home. What have I done and how do I get back to where I was before?”

But here’s the heartbreaking part: The sheep doesn’t know how to get itself back. It has wandered farther than it intended, and now it needs someone to come find it. Sheep are inherently directionally challenged.

Sometimes you don’t even realize how far you’ve wandered until you’re in trouble. You thought you were just exploring. You thought you were just taking a little life detour. You thought you were just doing your own thing. Until you look around and ask, “How did I get here? Where is everybody? Where is my shepherd?”

And now you’re trying to find your way back, but you’re struggling. Oh Sis, you may not be able to see the shepherd from here, but he can see you. The shepherd sees you, he sees the mountain, he sees the cliff, he sees the ditch, he sees the lion, and he sees the path back home.

In this parable Jesus doesn’t say, “The shepherd waited for the sheep to figure out what it had done.” He says the shepherd went looking for it. He doesn’t stand on the hill yelling, “You made your choice! You should have stayed with me!” Nope – he goes after it.

And when he finds it, he doesn’t punish it. He doesn’t shame it. He doesn’t lecture it about how much trouble it caused. He rejoices. That might be one of the most beautiful pictures Jesus ever gives us of the heart of God.

You are not loved because you stay perfect. You are loved because you are His. And guess what – you simply can’t change that. You’ve always been God’s girl and you always will be. There’s no changing the father’s love for you. And when you wander, His love doesn’t wander with you and then disappear. His love comes looking for you.

Maybe you’re the one who has wandered. Maybe you’ve been exploring places God never intended you to go. Maybe you’ve gotten distracted. Maybe you’ve followed a thought that led your feet farther and farther away. Maybe you look at your life right now and think, “I don’t even know how I got here.”

I want you to hear what Jesus is saying: You are not too far away to be found. The shepherd knows where you are. He knows the path you took. He knows the cliff you’re standing on or the ditch you’ve been stuck in. He knows exactly where you wandered.

And He’s coming for you.

And when He finds you, He’s not going to say, “I can’t believe you did this to me.” He’s going to say, “There you are.” Because the Father isn’t looking at you thinking about all the trouble you’ve caused. He’s looking at you thinking, “That’s my child.”

When the lost sheep comes home, heaven doesn’t throw a party because the sheep finally got its act together. Heaven rejoices because the one who was lost has been found.

So maybe today the question isn’t, “How far have I wandered?” Maybe the question is: Will I let the Shepherd find me? Because sometimes coming home isn’t about finding your way back. Sometimes it’s simply about stopping your wandering long enough to hear the Shepherd calling your name.

The sheep doesn’t end up back at home because it finally changed it’s mind, got it’s crap together and figured out how to get back. Nope – the sheep only gets back because the shepherd came and got it.

The sheep doesn’t have to become smart enough to save itself. It doesn’t have to retrace every step. It doesn’t have to prove that it’s sorry enough. It doesn’t have to find the shepherd. The shepherd finds the sheep.

If you’re hearing this, the shepherd has found you and he’s leading you back. Yes – before you know how you’re going to ever make this right again. Yes – before you’ve fixed this entire mess. Yes – before you’ve cleaned yourself up.

The shepherd comes and finds the sheep stuck in the briars with its hair all matted, it’s wounds all infected, it’s legs nearly broken, and he carries that sheep back home. Girl, JUST LET HIM CARRY YOU HOME!!!!!!!

You’ve been trying so hard to fix this. You’ve been trying to understand it. You’ve been trying to clean yourself up. You’ve been trying to make yourself worthy of being found. You’ve been thinking, “When I get myself together, then I’ll come back to God.” But that’s not how this story works.

The Shepherd doesn’t come looking for the sheep after it has fixed itself. He comes looking for the sheep while it’s still lost. While it’s still tangled. While it’s still wounded. While its hair is matted. While its legs are weak. While it’s exhausted from trying to survive in a place it was never meant to be.

He finds it exactly where it is. And then He picks it up. And He carries it home.

He doesn’t say, “Walk.” He doesn’t say, “You got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out.” He doesn’t say, “I’ll carry you if you promise you’ll never wander again.” He just picks up the sheep He loves.

And maybe that’s what somebody needs to hear today. You don’t have to figure out the whole way home. You just need to let yourself be found. You don’t have to fix your entire life today. You don’t have to know how God is going to untangle every relationship. You don’t have to know how He’s going to heal every wound. You don’t have to know how you’re going to undo every mistake. You don’t have to have the next ten steps figured out. You just need to let the Shepherd carry you through the next one.

Because the Shepherd knows the way home. He can see what you cannot see. He knows the dangers you don’t know are ahead. He knows the path you need to take. And He knows exactly how to get you back to the place where you are safe, loved, known and fully His.

So stop running.

Stop hiding.

Stop pretending you’re okay.

Stop believing that your mess has made you unlovable.

Stop thinking you’ve wandered too far.

Look up. The Shepherd is already there. He’s been looking for you.

And if you can hear His voice right now, that’s not condemnation. That’s your Shepherd calling your name. “There you are.” Not, “What have you done?” Not, “How could you?” Not, “Look at all the trouble you’ve caused.”

Just— “There you are. I’ve been looking for you. Come here. I’ve got you. Let’s go home.”

And maybe today, that’s all you need to do. Let Him find you. Let Him pick you up. Let Him carry what you can no longer carry. Let Him lead you home.

Because you were never meant to save yourself. You were meant to be found. And the Shepherd who left the ninety-nine to come looking for one? He came looking for you. And He isn’t going home without you.

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Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”

Well what on earth is Jesus trying to show us here? Being a teacher of religious law means you know your Bible. You know facts. You know history. You know verses. You know order. But there’s more than just knowledge of the Bible for us – we are invited to become DISCIPLES.

As a disciple of Jesus, we are his STUDENTS. Do you see the interesting dynamic Jesus is introducing here – for those who call themselves teachers, those who know all there is to know about the Bible, we can then go even deeper by being a student of Jesus. We can learn from him.

Jesus wants to take us beyond the written word, he wants to reveal to us the things of Heaven.

Have you ever studied scripture and simply gotten nothing out of it? My friend, you could have the entire Bible memorized from cover to cover, which many ‘teachers of religious law’ did in these days, but fail to be a discipled as a student of Jesus. You could know everything there is to know about God’s word, but only have knowledge without meaning.

God hasn’t called you to gather up more and more knowledge so you’re the most intelligent person with massive amounts of information. He’s called you to be a student of Jesus, learning spiritual ways beyond the words.

Jesus calls us into relationship with him. In close relationship we can see how Jesus works. He says in Matthew 11: 29-30 MSG, “Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

You can’t learn that from reading. You could study for the rest of your life and never learn the unforced rhythms of grace. These are the things you will only learn in close relationship with Jesus as his disciple.

Are you ready to really be a student of Jesus? Okay, then KEEP COMPANY with him. What would that really look like?

Keeping company with Jesus means you invite Jesus to be with you in your everyday life. It’s beginning to live in a continual awareness that he is there. Wow, to think that Jesus is personally interested in YOU and every detail of your life.

There’ a line in a song I love that says, “Never thought to stop and wonder – You made a million colors – And now you’re thinking about me.” Let that settle in for a moment. God had the capacity and creativity to make a million different colors in every different tone and shade, and now that same God is thinking about YOU!!!!! What???!!!!!!

That must mean you’re special. That must mean he sees you as worthy. That must mean your life is for a purpose.

And when you live with that awareness, life begins to take on a different color. Nothing is an accident. All things are truly working together for good in the hands of the God who is wild about you! And now, this great big, huge, all-knowing, all-powerful God has invited you to personally be his student and keep company with him?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you’re walking through your every day, ordinary life, recognizing Jesus is actually with you – you will begin to open yourself up to what he is trying to teach you. THAT IS DISCIPLESHIP. This is how you will learn the unforced rhythms of grace. This is how you will learn to live freely and lightly. And this will change your life completely!

These are the things you don’t get from just reading. This isn’t a class you can go to. This is one-on-one life training with the one who created life. Jesus teaching you.

When Jesus says, “Walk with me, work with me – Watch how I do it”, he’s not asking you to take a class. He’s inviting you to be his apprentice. This is an apprenticeship. You watch the expert!

Watch how Jesus handled hardship. Watch how he handled criticism. Watch how he responded when he was tired. Watch how he spent time with the Father praying. What how he dealt with interruptions. Watch how he LOVED. Watch how he forgave. Watch how he handled power. Watch how he trusted God. YOU LEARN BY WATCHING JESUS. Then, you start doing what you see him do.

Today, this day of your real life, it is a classroom. Jesus is teaching you something here. Something beyond the typed words in your Bible. Something beyond the same stories you will read. Something personally designed for you to see Jesus working so you can learn to do the same. Today, you will learn patience. Today you will learn trust. Today you will learn surrender. Today you will learn peace.

Today, your life is filled with opportunities to be disciplined by Jesus.

YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING! Jesus has so much more he wants to teach you.

Now, back to this parable. In the story, Jesus says the disciple (the student who is constantly learning) is like a homeowner who brings things out of his storeroom. Okay – you can’t bring out what you haven’t put in. Every time you spend time with Jesus, you’re putting something in the storeroom.

This is how scripture comes alive. This is how lessons grow deep. This is when you see God’s answer to prayers. This is personally experiencing the faithfulness of God. THIS IS THE STOREHOUSE.

You’ve been storing up all this goodness so you can bring it back out at any time. Old things and new things. Old promises and brand new revelations of how Jesus is working personally in your life. Old stories of how they’re unfolding in awesome new ways in this season.

Isn’t it incredible how you can read the same verses and same stories in your Bible in a different season of life and find a whole new meaning? Yip – that’s what happens in the storehouse. As a student of Jesus you’re adding more and more and it just keeps growing and becoming more.

Maybe the goal of your Christian life isn’t to become someone who knows the most about God. Maybe it’s to become someone who knows God so well that His ways become your ways. That’s why Jesus doesn’t simply invite you to read about Him. He says: “Come. Follow Me.”

Walk with Me. Work with Me. Watch Me. Learn from Me. Keep company with Me. And eventually, without even realizing it, you’ll start responding like Him. You’ll start loving like Him. You’ll start forgiving like Him. You’ll start seeing people like Him. You’ll start trusting like Him. You’ll start living like Him.

And that’s when the storeroom starts filling up. Not just with facts about Jesus. But with experiences of Jesus. Not just verses you’ve memorized. But truth you’ve lived. Not just knowledge in your head. But Jesus shaping your heart.

And then, when life gets hard—or when someone else needs what you’ve learned—you can walk into your storeroom and say: “Oh, I’ve got something for this.” Because you’ve been keeping company with Jesus.

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Matthew 13: 47-51, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. that is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you understand all these things?”

So, Jesus is saying in the end there will only be 2 categories of people and they will be separated out by the angels. There will be the wicked and the righteous. The wicked’s fate is the fiery furnace of misery. The righteous will be kept and carried off. We know from earlier parables in this chapter that the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom.

So, it’s clear who we don’t want to be – we don’t want to be the wicked. And it’s clear who we do want to be – we want to be the righteous. Now, how can we be sure because this is eternity we’re talking about. There will be no undoing this.

After sharing this story, Jesus says, “Do you understand all these things?” No – I honestly don’t at this point, Jesus, help me understand. Explain this to us. He wants us to understand this, so let’s dig deeper here for understanding.

When I’m trying to understand scripture, I do a few things:

1. I look at different translations for clearer wording.

2. I look up the original Greek or Hebrew words and their definitions.

3. I read commentary to get additional understanding.

Looking at other translations of this parable, they all say it in the same words – there are the good and the bad – the righteous and the wicked, and in the end they are getting separated. Until then, they will be in the same waters living together. God doesn’t separate us now, but the day will come when he does.

Now, let’s look at the original text. These spoken words of Jesus were recorded by the disciple Matthew after he personally heard them. The language was Greek. In Greek, the two groups people will be separated into are the ponēros and the dikaious.

The ponēros are the wicked ones. The word means evil, bad, harmful, morally corrupt. It describes one who is not only bad in character, but produces bad effects. This isn’t the person who messes up in their life and fails – this is the person who is truly bad. This isn’t about just doing bad things – this is about BEING bad. It’s a moral corruption from within. It’s a genuinely rotten, poisonous fruit.

Religion has warped this word to make us think we’re going to Hell if we sin. Well, here’s the really bad news about that teaching – WE ALL SIN. Every single one of us. There has only been one without sin and that was Jesus. The rest of us aren’t good enough – but that doesn’t mean we are wicked.

This word ponēros is used when Jesus teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6. Verse 13, “deliver us from the evil one.” That’s the ponēros one. Satan. So his people, his followers, his devoted workers are the ones who Jesus tells us are wicked. They are the ones who will meet the fate of the fiery furnace.

These are NOT the ones who have made wrong choices and wandered off the path occasionally. These are the ones who are inherently evil.

——

Then there are the dikaious. Here’s what that word means – those who are in right standing with God. Here’s what that word doesn’t necessarily mean – a good person.

We try to make this all about us, about our acts, our deeds, and our track record. And if we do, we always fall short. We simply are not righteous. No matter how good you are, it hasn’t made you right with God.

There is one thing and one thing only that has made you right with God – that’s the man on the middle cross. Jesus gives us right standing with a Holy and perfect God. JUST JESUS.

2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be MADE RIGHT WITH GOD through Christ.”

This is how we are the diakious – the righteous – the ones who will get to shine bright in the Kingdom of God forever! Jesus did that for us.

Romans 5:17, “God’s wonderful grace and his GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

Righteousness is a gift of God’s grace. No, we don’t deserve it, but he gives it to us anyway. You can stop thinking you have to make yourself good enough and receive the grace that completely covers you.

Romans 3:22, “We are made RIGHT WITH GOD by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. yet God, in his grace, freely makes US RIGHT in his sight. People are made RIGHT WITH GOD when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.”

It just couldn’t be any clearer than that. We are made right with God through one thing and one thing alone – BELIEVING IN JESUS! And no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’ve come from or how wrong you’ve been, this is true for YOU. YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS THROUGH JESUS.

So my friend, your destiny is sealed. If you believe in Jesus, you are in the diakious, the righteous, the ones in right standing with God. And your future is secure in Jesus – you get to shine in God’s Kingdom forever!

So let’s go back to Jesus’ question: “Do you understand all these things?”

I think I finally understand what He’s trying to show us. One day, the net is going to come ashore. One day, there will be a separation. One day, this life will be over, and eternity will begin.

And on that day, the question won’t be, “Were you perfect?” Because none of us were. It won’t be, “Did you make good choices every day?” Because none of us did. It won’t even be, “Were you good enough?” Because none of us are.

The question is: What did you do with Jesus?

Because there are only two categories in the end: the wicked and the righteous. And here’s the incredible news for every person who has put their faith in Jesus: Jesus makes you righteous.

Not your performance. Not your religious résumé. Not how many Bible verses you know. Not how many times you’ve gotten it right.

Jesus. The man on the middle cross took what belonged to you so that you could receive what belonged to Him.

He took your sin. He gave you His righteousness.

He took your shame. He gave you His grace.

He took your condemnation. He gave you right standing with God.

So stop trying to earn what Jesus already died to give you. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life wondering, “Am I good enough?” You aren’t. Jesus is.

And that’s the whole point.

The Gospel isn’t that you finally became good enough for God. The Gospel is that Jesus was good enough for you.

So when the net comes ashore, I don’t want to be standing there hoping my good outweighs my bad. I want to be standing there covered by Jesus. I want to be found in Christ. I want His righteousness to be my righteousness.

And then—because I have received His life—I want that life to change the way I live here and now. Because this isn’t just about where we go when we die. It’s about who we become while we’re alive.

If Jesus has truly gotten into your life, He should eventually begin getting into everything. Your thoughts. Your words. Your relationships. Your decisions. Your money. Your marriage. Your work. Your habits. Your reactions. Your dreams. Your disappointments. Everything.

He becomes the center. And when Jesus becomes the center, He begins changing what your life produces.

So don’t spend your life trying to prove you’re good enough. Receive the righteousness Jesus freely gives you. And then spend the rest of your life letting Him transform you from the inside out.

Because someday the net will come ashore. And when that day comes, I want to hear Jesus say: “You are Mine.” And I want to shine like the sun in my Father’s Kingdom.

Not because I was good enough. Because Jesus was.

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Yesterday we studied the Parable of the Treasure. Now, Jesus continues his teaching with another similar story tied to it. They go together, so let’s read them together.

Matthew 13: 44-45, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it.”

Remember yesterday was all about a man who discovered hidden treasure in a field. He just found it there – stumbled upon it. But now in this story of the pearl, we have a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. A merchant is on a mission to find something specific. He is trained, he is experienced, and he knows exactly what he is looking for.

One wasn’t looking and found hidden treasure. One was searching intentionally and discovered a pearl of great value. And isn’t it the same with finding Jesus. Some of us just stumbled right into Jesus when we weren’t even looking for him – while others of us found him after searching through every other religion, every other way of life and then we finally found Jesus.

Which one is right? BOTH because they both result in the same life changing encounter.

I didn’t go searching for Jesus. I had a beautiful childhood and lived in a sweet little bubble. At 15 my family started going to church and I was happy to go because in my tiny country town there wasn’t much else to do. I wasn’t expecting to meet a Savior, I didn’t even know I needed one – but there he was, so sweetly awaiting our encounter. It wasn’t dramatic. I didn’t have a bunch of bad decisions and regrets to lay on the altar. I just knew there was a prompting from within calling my surrender to his divine guidance.

I was the one who stumbled on hidden treasure in a field when I wasn’t even looking for it. That’s the kingdom of heaven.

Then there’s my friend Cat. In her 30’s she had walked down a path of addiction that had led her to a crashing end. While in rehab trying to get sober and regain her life, she was introduced to a variety of “higher powers” for the choosing. She began studying and trying them. Buddhism was surely it, so she tried it – but felt nothing. So on to the next one. How about Hinduism. No, that wasn’t it.

She left rehab now sober, but still searching. On the way out, her counselor handed her her own personal copy of ‘Jesus Calling’ and said, “At some point you’re going to need this.” Cat tucked that little devotional book away in a closet and returned to life. It was a better life sober, but not a whole life.

When the next big family catastrophe hit, she knew she needed something to carry her through and not return to the familiarity of her addiction, and she remembered the words of the counselor at rehab who had said, “At some point, you’re going to need this.” And Cat knew – if there was ever a time I need something, it’s now.

So, she found that book, ‘Jesus Calling’ in the closet, she opened the page to that day’s date, and there she found every single word she most needed. But more than words, she found the loving, forgiving, life-changing Savior she had been searching for all along. AND SHE KNEW IT. She knew this was THE ONE. Jesus was the pearl of greatest value and nothing would ever be the same for her.

Cat was the one who had been searching for years and finally found her pearl. That’s the kingdom of heaven.

Isn’t it amazing that we have BOTH? Both a Savior who will pursue us when we aren’t even pursuing him – AND a Savior who will patiently wait as we pursue everything that isn’t him and perfectly align an encounter with him when everything else has failed?

Jesus doesn’t fit in our little box. It doesn’t have to be one way. He is THE WAY, and he will make the way to you in whatever way that needs to be. He’s the hidden treasure you stumble upon without even looking – and he’s the pearl of great value you’ve studied and searched for your entire life. But remember this – either way, he’s worth giving up EVERYTHING for.

In both parables, when found, everything else was sold. Remember that. Jesus requires everything. He’s worth everything. He’s greater than everything.

For my sisters who are more like me without the dramatic story of searching for Jesus, and more just stumbling upon him when you weren’t even looking, remember you’ve found the greatest treasure of all!

And for my sisters who have searched their entire lives, here’s Jesus and he’s everything you’ve been looking for! He is your pearl!

And really think about Jesus being our pearl. How wild that he would use that as the example in his teaching. Do you know how a pearl is formed?

A pearl begins with an irritation. If an oyster never has an irritation, they simply never have a pearl. But if their little world inside their shell is penetrated by the irritation of a grain of sand, then that irritation creates something that becomes valuable.

The irritation of sand inside the shell causes the oyster to respond. Their response covers the sand with layers of naturally produced protection from within. Layer after layer, something beautiful is formed around something that originally caused great pain.

Think about that – the very thing that irritated the oyster becomes part of what makes the pearl so valuable. Of course that’s why Jesus uses the pearl as an example – he knows this is how God works sometimes!

Something you never asked for gets into your life. A disappointment, a betrayal, a loss, a failure, a terrible season, an series of bad decisions that turned into an addiction. Irritation grows. It gets worse. You’re so uncomfortable. But God is growing something within you. Something of great value. This is where Jesus shows up!!!!!!!

Don’t you see how God can use what was so painful to produce something so beautiful in your life? He wastes nothing.

The oyster doesn’t wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll make a pearl today.” It simply responds to what has entered its life. And slowly, layer by layer, something extraordinary develops.

Maybe that’s what God has been doing in you. You thought you were just surviving. God was forming you. You thought you were just getting through another hard season. God was adding another layer. You thought you were being delayed. God was developing depth. You thought the pain was ruining your story. God was making something beautiful from it.

And then you find your pearl. You find your Jesus, that is what you’ve been searching for all along.

And what do you do when you find that pearl – You don’t just keep looking for something else. You don’t keep trying other things. NO. You know this is what you’ve been looking for all your life. This is your answer. Here he is. And you give up everything else because you know there’s absolutely NOTHING better!

What if some of the things you’ve spent your life chasing were never the pearl? But Jesus says, “You found it.” The Kingdom is the pearl. Jesus is the pearl.

And when you finally understand His worth, you realize, I don’t have to spend the rest of my life searching. I’ve found what my heart was looking for.

Jesus is worth everything.

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Matthew 13:44, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

I want you to imagine for a moment coming to the end of your life, and standing before your Creator as he shows you a life of your movie. Everything you did in your entire lifetime. And imagine realizing you missed the whole point of life.

Sadly, that will be many of us. Oh we’ll make it to heaven, we’ll gain our ticket of entrance into the Holy Gates – not because of a single thing we did, but all as humble and unworthy recipients of what the man on the cross did for us. But the time we had here on earth was wasted. We focused on the wrong things. We stressed about things that weren’t within our control. We rushed through the important things. And we quite simply missed the point.

Here, standing with God having the experience of eternity and seeing our life as a movie, we would have a new found perspective of the time we were allotted on Earth. We would see that this entire time we were spiritual beings having our human experience. Really nothing more and nothing less. We were never bodies that just happen to also have a soul. We were first and foremost souls that were gifted these bodies for just a brief moment in the history of the world.

Seeing this, knowing this, understanding this – we would be able to return to this life and get it right. With Heaven’s perspective we would know what’s truly important and what isn’t.

And what is it we would have found – TREASURE. Hidden treasure. Right here in our own lives.

Now, let’s read Jesus’ Parable of the Treasure again. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Oh that God would give us a heavenly perspective, right here as our spiritual selves have our brief human experience. We would let go of everything we’ve been holding so tightly in order to obtain the real treasure. The treasure of the time and opportunities we’ve been given here of eternal importance. Once you recognize what is truly valuable, your entire definition of a good life changes.

WHAT IF YOU COULD SEE THE TREASURE NOW?

What if God could give you just a glimpse today of what you will understand when this life is over?

What if you could see your life from Heaven’s perspective—not to make you feel guilty about what you’ve done, but to help you recognize what actually matters while you still have time to do something about it?

I think we would be shocked.

We would look at the things we spent so much time worrying about and wonder, ‘Why did I give that so much of my attention?’

We would look at the things we were chasing and say, ‘Why did I think that would make me happy?’

We would look at the things we were so afraid of losing and realize, ‘Those things were never mine to keep anyway.’

And then we would see the things we almost missed.

That conversation that was the last one, when we didn’t know it was the last one.

The sunset we were too busy to notice.

The person God put in our path.

The chance to say, “I love you.”

The ordinary Monday that we rushed through because we were waiting for something more exciting to happen.

And we would realize: THAT was the treasure.

Not the bigger house.

Not the nicer car.

Not the perfect body.

Not the job title.

Not the bank account.

Not the perfectly organized life.

Those things aren’t necessarily bad. But they were never the point. The treasure was hidden in the middle of the life God has already given us.

And isn’t that exactly what Jesus says? The man finds treasure hidden in a field. He doesn’t have to travel across the world to find it. He doesn’t have to manufacture it. He doesn’t have to earn it. He discovers something of incredible value that was already there.

I wonder how much treasure is already buried in your life.

THE TREASURE IS OFTEN ORDINARY

We tend to think God’s best things must be big things.

A big calling.

A big breakthrough.

A big adventure.

A big answer to prayer.

But some of the most eternally significant things God will ever do through you may look incredibly ordinary while you’re doing them.

A meal around your table.

A prayer whispered over someone who is hurting.

A simple phone call you make time for.

A child who knows they are loved.

A stranger who experiences kindness.

A person who comes to Jesus because they watched you live differently.

A quiet morning where you opened God’s Word instead of opening your phone.

These moments don’t look impressive on Instagram. But Heaven doesn’t measure life the way Instagram does. Heaven knows the value of things Earth overlooks. And that changes the question we should be asking.

Instead of: “How can I make my life bigger?” Maybe the better question is: “How can I make my life matter?”

Instead of: “What can I accomplish?” Ask: “Who can I love?”

Instead of: “What can I accumulate?” Ask: “What can I give?”

Instead of: “How can I protect my time?” Ask: “What is God asking me to do with the time I’ve been given?”

Because someday, every single one of us will discover that time was the most valuable thing we ever possessed—and we were spending it every single day.

WHAT ARE YOU TRADING YOUR LIFE FOR?

The man in Jesus’ story discovers the treasure and then does something radical. He sells everything he has. Why? Because he finally understands value. He isn’t making a sacrifice because he’s miserable. He does it “in his joy.”

That’s important. When you really understand the value of the Kingdom, surrender doesn’t feel like losing. It feels like trading up. You aren’t giving up your life. You’re finally learning what your life is for.

And maybe that’s the question Jesus wants to put in front of us today: What are you trading your life for? Because you are trading it for something.

Every day.

Your time is being spent.

Your attention is being spent.

Your energy is being spent.

Your thoughts are being spent.

The question isn’t whether you are spending your life. The question is: Are you spending it on what is actually valuable?

Because you can spend your entire life building something that disappears in an instant. Or you can spend your life investing in things that outlive you.

HEAVEN’S PERSPECTIVE CHANGES TODAY

And here’s the beautiful part: We don’t have to wait until Heaven to get Heaven’s perspective. We can ask God for it now.

“God, show me what I’m missing. Show me what I’m holding too tightly. Show me what I’m worrying about that doesn’t matter. Show me where I’m wasting time. Show me who needs me. Show me what I need to release. Show me the treasure that is already buried in the life You’ve given me.”

Because maybe your life doesn’t need a complete overhaul.

Maybe you don’t need a new house, a new job, a new relationship, or a new body. Maybe you need new eyes.

Maybe the ordinary life you’ve been overlooking is the very life God wants you to live intentionally.

Maybe the people you’ve been taking for granted are the treasure.

Maybe the time you’ve been wasting is the treasure.

Maybe the season you’re complaining about is carrying something God wants to teach you.

Maybe the field you’ve been looking past is the field where the treasure is buried.

SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS TODAY?

Look at your life today and ask: What matters for eternity? Then do more of that.

Who matters for eternity? Love them.

What relationship needs attention? Give it attention.

What conversation have you been putting off? Have it.

What grudge are you carrying? Release it.

What’s keeping you distracted? Put it down.

What has God been asking you to do? Stop negotiating and do it.

What are you constantly worrying about that you cannot control? Give it to God.

And what ordinary, beautiful thing have you been rushing past? Slow down long enough to see it.

Because one day, we will see this life differently. We will understand what mattered. We will understand what didn’t. And I don’t want to wait until then. I want to recognize the treasure now. I want to live today like the woman I will wish I had been when I see my life from Heaven.

Because the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. And perhaps the most incredible thing about the parable isn’t that the treasure was there. It’s that the man found it. Maybe that’s what Jesus is inviting us to do today. Look again. Look at your life. Look at your people. Look at your time. Look at your opportunities. Look at this very ordinary Monday.

There is treasure here. Don’t miss it.

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