“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Mt 13:44)

This is a word for the born again children of God. I encourage you to pay the price to gain the assurance of your salvation and spiritual maturity! Christ is the ‘treasure hidden in a field’. The man who found the treasure is me and is you.

Many seek for hidden treasures all over the world. I read that seeking for treasures is a very expensive form of adventure. They say that pirates hid their stolen treasures in some islands. They wanted to come back later to get them. But they died before they could come back. People look for things like these. But it is not easy to be a treasure hunter. It takes time, physical and mental effort, and a lot of money. It is a dangerous work. Looking for treasures in strange places you are exposed to attacks from wicked men, thieves or wild animals. It is also a lonely work. In the open field it is just you and the dreams that you chase. You need to encourage yourself to go on. There are no human encouragers around. It is not easy… I have been there… I know…

In Greek, the word ‘field’ means a village farm. Try to imagine this story as you seek God. Finally, after years of seeking and digging, you find the greatest treasure of all, Jesus Christ! But you cannot shout for joy! You quietly rejoice by yourself. This is not the time to run and tell your family and friends: ‘I am a rich man! I have made it!’ This is not the time to post it on Facebook “I have found the fulfillment of my dreams!” It is true, you have found it but it is not yet your own! By freely taking from that treasure you will be called a thief. This is because the land that hosted the treasure for thousands of years is not your own. You need to buy the land before you have the treasure. It is like a man who wants to marry and he finally finds the girl of his dreams. He cannot announce that he is married to that girl. People will insult him! He has to pay a ‘bride price’ in the presence of witnesses before he can call that woman ‘my wife’. If not, he is an adulterer and a thief. The man who finds the treasure has to bury it again. This is the wisdom of the Kingdom of God: You find Christ and then you say to Him: ‘Good bye for now…I will come back and see You again…You shall be mine forever…’

The man goes back to the city and announces that he wants to become a farmer. His rich sophisticated friends laugh at his foolishness. ‘A farmer… What a joke…’ But that is all that he can say, for now. He announces that he is selling all his property in the city so that he can buy a farm in the village. He does not sell his things grudgingly. He sells them rejoicing. There is something strange about this man… he is so happy with his decision to change his address….this transition is mysterious to many who do not understand his new love for village things…. he is selling his expensive ‘condo in the Trump tower’ to go and buy a farm in the village… he sells his Mercedes Benz telling people he needs money to buy a farm… nobody knows the secret or the source of his joy…deep secret joy… not shared joy, at least not now…

Do you understand this parable? To ‘find Christ’ is not enough. You need to possess Christ, to be filled with His Word and His Spirit! Then you can truly say that Christ is yours! Not every Christian can say this: ‘My Beloved is mine and I am His”. You need to lose your life for His sake before you can have Christ! There is a price to pay to enter the mystery of this treasure called Christ. In Him there is all the wisdom and the knowledge of eternal life!

I have seen people who claim to be born again but they turn back from total commitment to the Lord, holding tight their little treasures money bought for them. Like with the rich your ruler who could not sell his things to truly find eternal life, a man may see Christ face to face, worship Him for a time but still go back to the world of sin, sad ‘for he has great possessions’.

This is my testimony! This is the truth that I have found: Christ is the greatest Blessing of all! He is the Gift from heaven! He is worthy more than silver or gold, more than the friendship of the best of friends, more than fame and more than culture. I testify that me, a sinner saved by His grace, I have found Him buried in the field called Nigeria! I thank God for the wisdom of not cheaply and foolishly brag about my achievement in finding Him ‘whom my soul loves’. For a long time I had to let go of His benefits and go back to my world of wealthy educated sinners. I simply told them that I am selling my things.

One by one, my cherished treasures of a life time of struggle were sold. This was a painful transition. But there was joy in that pain. I walked on the royal way of the Cross knowing that one day I can openly boast that Jesus is mine! Persecution is part of the price you pay to possess Christ. But it is all worth it! Oh…it is all worth it! After losing all things, I took my money and went to buy that field. The owner, an agent of the devil, had no idea why I am willing to pay all that for a ‘dirty old God forsaken’ field. That is what the devil called my dream. He said that he tried planting cassava and yam there, but the field is barren. I did not argue with him. I just wanted the deed of the land. I did not buy it to plant flowers there. I did not need a garden in Warri. I wanted what is hidden beneath the surface. The devil did not know what I was looking for. Thank God he did now know! He finally sold it to me. Jesus shed His Blood to be my Savior. I shed my tears and sweat to be His Servant! The deed is sealed! This is an eternal transaction no man or devil can steal. I declare that God loves Warri- Effurun, in Nigeria! Glory to the Lamb who seats on the throne! Now and forever! Amen! I am a child of God!