When it comes to the Holy Treasury, what's in your wallet?
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
– Matthew 13.52
He has found a holy treasury in the holy book…
– Sechnaill, Audite Omnes Amantes, Irish, 5th century[1]
These days the only treasure many people regard is that which rests in their bank accounts, investments, and retirement funds. The bigger and more varied this treasure, the happier they consider themselves to be.
Jesus spoke of a different kind of Treasure, however – the Treasure of God’s Word. God’s Word is the Treasure He has deposited for us. His Spirit is the Treasurer Who disburses what we need for each day. And the greatest Jewel of that Holy Treasury – which reflects on and refracts through all the others, and all the use to which we put it – is our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of God is an inexhaustible Treasure, filled with bawbles, bangles, and bright shiny beads of revelation, designed to outfit us with the grace we need to make our way in the Kingdom economy of God.
What a shame that, with such a Treasure at our disposal, so many of us are content with the pocket change of earthly coinage.
As Sechnaill reported, Patrick regarded the Word of God as a Holy Treasury to be invested and spent in the adventure of seeking the Kingdom of God. Patrick’s brief Confession – not much longer than a long tract – contains well over 100 references, quotes, or allusions to Scripture. He was a man deeply rooted in the Word of God; he loved it dearly, and taught it faithfully for nearly sixty years. And this explains why he could persevere against such adversity and difficulty in bringing the Gospel to the Irish people, leaving as a legacy a revival of Christian faith that lasted nearly 400 years.
Do we regard the Scriptures as a Holy Treasury? Do we enrich our portfolio of revelation so as to invest the Word of God in our everyday lives the way Patrick did? Do we spend God’s Word lavishly in loving Him and our neighbors, and so discover its power to make all things new?
A recent poll indicates that some 46% of those who claim to be born-again Christians do not believe in absolute truth. This means they don’t believe the Bible is absolutely true, and that probably helps to explain why most believers do not practice the very good discipline of reading and studying the Bible.
The Bible is an important book to them at one level, but it’s not like a fine Treasure to be drawn upon and invested for the sake of the Kingdom.
Yet this is how Jesus instructs us to think about His Word. He has given us a great bounty, a huge inheritance, filled with precious and magnificent promises, life-giving commands, and spiritual insights and instruction to enlarge our souls and embolden our witness. If we want to turn our world upside-down, like Patrick did his, we’ll have to get more serious about the Word of God – all the Word of God – and begin to invest it in our lives with greater consistency and at greater depths.
How about your own practice of drawing on the Holy Treasury of God? Do you find riches in both the Old and New Testaments? Do you fill your grace portfolio daily with riches from the whole counsel of God? Do you spend the grace of God’s Word in ministry to the people in your Personal Mission Field?
Or do you simply carry around the pocket change of earthly riches, intermingled with a few old familiar verses and basic doctrines – jingling it all through your fingers from time to time, just to remind you that it’s there?
You’ll know that you’re being instructed for Kingdom living when you relish, savor, delight in, learn, and live with boldness and joy all the counsel of God deposited for and revealed to you in the Holy Treasury of His Word.
Psalm 33.1-5, 20-22 (Truro: “Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns”)
Sing with rejoicing in the Lord, for praise becomes His righteous ones!
With harps and songs raise grateful words, and let new songs of praise be sung!
Joyfully shout! His Word is true; He does His work in faithfulness.
His love prevails the whole world through; the Lord loves truth and righteousness.
God is our Helper and our Shield; upon us let Your grace descend!
We hope in You, to You we yield; we trust in Jesus to the end.
Lord, help me to love Your Word more than I do, and grant that I may invest it more completely in my life, and in the lives of others.
The Legacy of Patrick
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T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
