Is your faith your treasure?
Protect your faith as if it is your most treasured possession
The focus if this week’s lesson is taken from the gospel of Luke:
8Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. – Luke 15:8-10
We understand from this text that a woman lost some money somewhere in her home. Rather than thinking that she will look for it later or that she just gives it up as lost, she becomes active in searching for it. She does three things first – she lights a candle, sweeps the entire house, and searches for it until it is found. After that, she makes it known to those around her that she has found the missing item! Few of us today would consider doing this. Instead, we would probably just put it back in our wallet with the rest of the money and not think about it anymore.
The parable Jesus teaches those close to Him actually starts with the story of the lost sheep, a few verses earlier. What makes the story about the piece of silver so special is that the Greek translation uses the word “drachma” for “piece”. The value of one drachma is more or less the same as the Roman denarius, which is about equal to one day’s work in those days. To put it in perspective, and since in modern times we are not paid per day but per month, think about your monthly salary. Then divide it by 22 as there are normally about 22 working days in a month, the assumption being that you are not paid for weekends. Nevertheless, you will find that one day’s salary is quite a number! Are you prepared to lose this amount of money?
There is something much deeper here though. Women in those days often received coins from their husbands as a wedding gift, and wearing this as a string around the neck, or woven into their scarves as an indictor that they are married, shows how much value these coins will have. Imagine now that this piece was part of a necklace of ten pieces, or part of a collection of ten pieces worn in a scarf. Losing just one is a huge loss.
How does this apply to us?
The silver pieces represent the value your faith has for you as a believer. Just like this woman left no stone unturned to find the lost piece, so we should feel about our faith. Just how valuable is your salvation to you? Do you often think about the miracle of being reborn, saved from sin, and destined for eternity with Jesus? Many of us become so used to it that it hardly strikes us as being the biggest treasure we could ever have. We may have accepted the saving grace of God, but somewhere along the way some of the real value, the real worth, has been lost. Life often commands us to focus so much on what to do to survive every day, that we forget the true eternal value of being saved. Just as the coins were worn close to her heart, we should wear our faith very close to our hearts and feel it, feel it, every day. When last have you experienced your faith as tangible, something you can touch and treasure?
Light
The woman in the story first lights a candle. Homes of ordinary folk in those days were dark, with small windows that did not let in too much light. She uses a candle to light up the dark areas in the house to search for the piece.
How often do you allow the Light of the world, Jesus, to illuminate your life and expose dark areas in an effort to ensure sin is confessed and repented of (1 John 1:9)?
12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. – John 8:12
Sweep
This woman sweeps the house and cleans it in an effort to find the coin. Just think of this for a minute: do you ever spring clean your home just because you are looking for something? Maybe you do find something you are looking for under a piece of furniture and realise that the floor under the furniture is dusty and you should really clean it, maybe later.
How often do you do some spring cleaning in your spiritual life? We accumulate a lot of stuff that does not in any way assist in our spiritual growth and is often just like dust and fluff balls under our furniture. Instead, we should do as the writer did in the psalm:
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10
Seek
She seeks diligently until she finds the missing piece of silver. It is important to her. How much time do you spend seeking God’s will in your life? Here is Jesus’ advice for us:
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. – Matthew 6:33
If you are worried about progressing in life, stop and first seek the kingdom of God. He will then add everything else that He deems necessary for you. Seek His will for your life. Seek a personal relationship with Him. Seek God the Father as your Father; God the Son as your Saviour; and God the Holy Spirit as your Guide.
Conclusion
Your faith is like the ten silver coins the husband gave his wife. She treasured all of them. They are the outward proof of what she experiences inwardly; that she truly belongs and is treasured. Jesus gave you a precious gift, eternal life, through His blood. He is the bridegroom and we as the church are the bride, no matter if we are male or female.
If you experience that you have lost some of the value of what it means to belong to Jesus, use His Word as the light to search your heart; sweep out everything that is not needed; and seek until you have found the missing passion. Once you have found it, cling to it. Then rejoice along with others close to you, to show them that your faith is protected and treasured.