Thank you for joining us as we study God’s Word together. No matter where you come from or what has happened to you, the Holy Spirit can speak to you through God’s Word and show you the next step to being more like Jesus. We pray this program will disciple you in your walk with Christ and help you be like Him.
For our study today, we will look at the first seven verses of Colossians 2. The title is “God’s Treasure Chest,” and we will look at a few treasures that can be ours when we live for Jesus. These treasures are not gold, silver, or money, which is usually the first thing that comes to mind when we think about treasures. However, they are every bit as valuable.
Please give your attention to Bible teacher J Mark as we consider God’s treasure together.
Many years ago, an old man searched for gold in a riverbed in South Africa. He’d been at it for many years. Now and then, he found a little bit of gold, not enough to make him rich – but just enough to keep him alive and maintain his interest.
The part of the river in which he was prospecting was relatively new to him – and there were more signs than usual of the presence of gold. He was pretty excited – gripped by the gold fever, but he didn’t find much gold again.
As his dig neared its end, he found himself exhausted and discouraged. He was just about to go home one evening when he saw some unusual pebbles. He liked the look of them, so he slipped about a dozen of them into his pocket.
At home, he got out a tin and put the pebbles into it. This tin was unique and filled with personal items: letters from his son, a photo of his wife, who had died some years before, the collar from his old dog, who had died 18 months earlier, and more. Dropping the pebbles into the tin, he slowly closed it, put it back into the cupboard, and forgot about the pebbles.
Another ten years passed, and he still hadn’t made that gold strike he longed for. By now, he was ancient and ill, too. With no ready money to pay for a doctor, he died.
A few days later, the police came to his house. They looked through his belongings to see if there was anything they could sell to pay for his funeral, but they found nothing of value. Even his house was just an old wooden shack falling to pieces.
And then they found THE TIN. As one of the officers looked through it, he gasped with surprise. “Look at this,” he said to his partner, pointing to the pebbles the old man had placed in that tin 10 years earlier. “They`re uncut diamonds!” he said. “They’re worth a fortune!”
The old man had, INDEED, been very rich but had died thinking that he was penniless – because he hadn’t looked closely enough at what he thought were just pretty pebbles. He’d spent the whole of his life searching for riches but had missed the FACT that those pebbles were the answer to his longings.1
He had access to extravagant riches, but because he didn’t know what he had and failed to ask anyone else, those riches didn’t do him any good. That old tin of largely sentimental items was indeed a treasure chest!
Too often, you and I are like the old prospector; we have treasure at our fingertips, yet we fail to recognize what we have. And so, today, I want to talk with you about “God’s Treasure Chest.” We’ll be studying Colossians 2:1 to 7.
1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
3 in whom ar...
