There was this vase. It was tucked away in a box and stored away in a dark attic for quite a while. Then one day someone decided to go through all the stuff that had been long ago hidden away, left undisturbed, in that dark place. When the vase was uncovered they took a long look at, rubbed the dust off and thought, 'hmmm, this may be of some worth'....
And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness----secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
Isaiah 45:3
What if we began to see the darkness of this world in a new "light"? What if we, who carry the greatest Light ever to be known, begin to see the darkness in a new way? What if, instead of being afraid of the dark, we begin to realize that we have the light and that the light always takes over the darkness. What if we begin to realize that the darker the place the brighter the light shines? What if we begin to look for the hidden treasures that are all around? What if we begin to uncover the secret riches that have been forgotten about and stored away?
I simply sit here this morning and write this to challenge myself and anyone who reads this. We gotta begin the greatest treasure hunt ever. Greater and more exciting than any treasure Nicholas Cage could ever think of. This is a treasure hunt that will challenge each of us to begin to look for the hidden treasures and the secret riches in any darkness we encounter instead of shaking our heads and walking away. I want to be able to see those things that God has placed inside every precious heart of every important person I encounter. God has placed it inside of me, you and every person we encounter whether we or they have found it yet or not.
I pray this day that we will begin to uncover the hidden treasure, the secret riches that lie forgotten about and stored away in the attics of hearts and lives that we encounter every day. Begin to see with the light God has given and shine it on the darkness. Speak life. Shine the light.
The vase ended up on the Antiques Road Show...the vase was discovered to be made of pure jade...the vase, when observed from the point of view of a person who knew the artist, its creator, and its content, the vase was given great value. The vase had been long hidden, forgotten about, but now it would be on display, it would be insured, it would be valued, it would be kept safe and sound....
When we know the Artist and Creator of every person we encounter, we too will assign great value and worth to every precious soul. We will begin to see the treasures hidden away, purposes that haven't been known before, potential stored up for a great plan that was devised before this world was created. When we realize who we are in Christ Jesus, we begin to realize we are of worth and value. We begin to know that God has created us with His own hands. We are His masterpieces. We are insured by the blood of Jesus when we simply choose to believe in His redeeming grace. We are kept safe in the palm of His hands...
No doubt, there is darkness all around. We encounter it every day. Whether it be a life circumstance, relationships, places or people, my prayer today is that we will begin to look at the darkness with this new thought and determination: Since there's darknesss, there's got to be a hidden treasure, there's got to be secret riches... then begin the treasure hunt to find it, to allow God to reveal it, to shine the Light on it...to become rich from the secret treasures that are ours in Christ Jesus.
