Joy of the Kingdom

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
- Matthew 13:44

I was kind of hoping Mike would cover this one in his sermon, since I'm not sure. But there are two things that stick out to me about the man in this passage:

1. He's completely sold out for the Kingdom. To him, the treasure is worth more than all of his possessions combined. It is truly the most important thing to him on this earth.

2. He acts in his joy. Not only does he give everything up to inherit the Kingdom, but he does it joyfully.

How often do I put the Kingdom of Heaven ahead of worldly possessions? And how often do I do it joyfully, with no sense of remorse or longing for what I've given up? This man models the viewpoint we should have about the Kingdom, and I need to be praying that it would be my only joy on this earth.

Rejoicing Exceedingly with Great Joy

I was reading through Matt 2 this morning about the wise men's journey to see the baby Jesus. When they saw the star had stopped and they had reached their destination, the text describes their reaction:

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy."
Matt 2:10

It's easy in this culture to get complacent with the Christmas message, but let's learn something about the magnificence and awesomeness of what happened on Christmas from the wise men. I definitely want to rejoice exceedingly with great joy this Christmas.