SAINT EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI, BISHOP (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure.

Imagine this man excitedly selling everything to obtain a treasure that he’s just discovered. It’s such a valuable treasure that he’s willing to part with everything in order to own it. Years later, we can picture him telling this story to his grandchildren—sharing the joy of finding something more valuable than anything he had ever seen before!

Jesus uses this parable to demonstrate the joy that we can experience when we discover the kingdom of heaven. When we come across this “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46), everything else we have held dear seems to pale in comparison. We have discovered the wonderful treasure of new, abundant life that Jesus offers us.

What was it like for you when you discovered the joy of the kingdom of heaven? How has Christ become your treasure and source of abundant life? Perhaps your priorities have changed, from a selfish focus to one that is generous and outward looking. Or perhaps you now enjoy and seek out the silence of prayer, whereas you once ran from it.

Whatever your experience and however you came to discover the value of Jesus in your life, you have a unique story. Your testimony—your heartfelt account of what led you to embrace him—can inspire others to consider following Jesus, too.

The Samaritan woman, whose story is recounted in John 4, discovered that Jesus was her living water—the source of satisfaction that she had been searching for. And her testimony involved sharing things that, just minutes before, she had been so ashamed of. She told her neighbors all about the “man who told me everything I have done” (John 4:29), and the Samaritans in Sychar “began to believe in [Jesus] because of the word of the woman who testified” (4:39).

A personal testimony is a powerful way to make people thirsty for the living water that Jesus offers to each person. So what’s your story? How have you discovered the “treasure” of abundant life in Jesus? Take a moment to recall it, and then ask the Lord for the opportunity to share it today.

“You are my treasure, Jesus! Help me share the joy of your kingdom with others today.”

Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99:5-7,
Matthew 13:44-46