RAdiCaL

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matthew 13:44

I have recently read the book Radical by David Platt and would like to give you and excerpt from the book that I think is just an amazing picture of how a relationship with God is worth every ounce of energy, time or money that you could ever have. I'm not saying that it is any easy concept but we are called to sacrificially give.

 It helps to remember that we have an amazing God, a treasure, worth giving everything for! 

A Call to Treasure

Imagine walking in a field and stumbling upon a treasure that is more valuable than anything else you could work for or find in this life. It is more valuable than all you have now or will ever have in the future.
You look around and notice that no one else realized the treasure is here, so you cover it up quickly and walk away, pretending you haven't seen anything. You go into town and begin to sell off all your possessions to have enough money to buy that field. The world thinks you're crazy..
"What are you thinking?" your friends and family ask you.
You tell them, "I'm buying that field over there"
They look at you in disbelief. "That's a ridiculous investment," they say. "Why are you giving away everything you have?"
You respond, "I have a hunch." and you smile to yourslef as you walk away.
You smile because you know that in the end you are not really giving away anything at all. Instead you are gaining. Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way. So with joy~~~with joy~~~~ you sell it all, you abadon it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing eveything else for.
This is the picure of Jesus in the gospel. He is something~~Someone~~worth losing everything for. And if we walk away from the Jesus of the gospel, we walk away from eternal riches. The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater for us than the cost of discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the infinite treasure of knowing and experiencing him.

"One thing you lack; go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me"

Mark 10:21