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The kingdom of heaven is not a kingdom of sour self-sacrifice, long-faced long-suffering, or dour duty. The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom where people do backwards things, things like giving up everything they have, and they do it out of pure, overflowing, unstoppable joy (Matthew 13:44)! Why? Because everything you have is nothing compared to the untold riches of heaven. Because giving everything in service to God and the bigger story he is writing is no loss if you’re already secure in your identity.
There is a never-ending abundance in being an adopted child—and heir—of the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords, the Creator and owner of all things, the awesome all-powerful Saviour victorious over sin, death, suffering, tears and pain, the winner of life, the fountain of living water, the merciful and gracious giver of every good gift, for ever and ever, amen. He is, himself, the greatest treasure in the universe. And he has given himself to bring us back to himself, if we will only trust him and follow him.
Your investments in his kingdom now, no matter how unnoticed they are by people, are producing a reward that is better than anything money can buy on Earth.
You can have the great, eternal treasure of heaven. How can any amount of earthly wealth compare? How can earthly fame compare to heaven’s honour? How can earthly power compare to the privilege of reigning with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12)? The things you have here and now can never last—even your life on Earth is short. But Jesus said it is possible for you to invest your life and everything you have into eternal treasures that cannot be destroyed.
Jesus said it is possible to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20), which means that your investments in his kingdom now, no matter how unnoticed they are by people, are producing a reward that is better than anything money can buy on Earth. Jesus said that those who are faithful with the small things God has entrusted to them on Earth will be given greater responsibility in the kingdom of heaven (Luke 19:17). He said that those who humble themselves in service, like he did, will be exalted to high honour in his kingdom, like he was (Matthew 23:11-12). It doesn’t have to look big to the world. It doesn’t have to register on their ladders of success. Their ladders aren’t going to last, anyway.
It’s no wonder people throughout history have counted everything else a loss compared to knowing and serving God. It’s why my great-grandfather Horace Peach spent his life at the door of the YMCA, welcoming strangers. It’s why his son Robert leveraged success to serve others instead of using it to serve himself. It’s why my friend Nancy has given away so many house keys. It’s why Moses “chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrews 11:25-26). These people, and so many like them, caught sight of dreams that were better than anything they could dream for themselves, and they never looked back. Their lives became a reflection of their Saviour’s life of downward service and sacrifice for God’s story of redemption, flowing freely from the confidence of knowing who they were in Christ and where their service would lead.
Your happiness does not have to depend on anything going according to your plans—it can come instead from the deep satisfaction and confidence of being part of God’s plans.
That‘s why the apostle Paul said, “Even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me” (Philippians 2:17-18). Do you see what he did there? He said, I am suffering. Rejoice with me! Which is not the way people normally talk—unless they know that their suffering has a purpose, and a reward that is greater than anything they have lost. Paul, Nancy, Horace, and countless others throughout history, found the treasure in the field, and in their joy, they gave everything they had to gain it. And like the man in Jesus’ story, their joy came immediately, even before the treasure was fully grasped.
The same joy is available to you. It is a joy not tied to circumstances, but overflowing out of the treasure of Christ. Which means that your happiness does not have to depend on anything going according to your plans—it can come instead from the deep satisfaction and confidence of being part of God’s plans. This confidence is the soil where true contentment grows. As Paul says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). He says that if we are in Christ, then nothing, not anything “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). And he says that this security is the ground where peace can finally overcome anxiety:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
Looking up and climbing over each other to make ourselves as big as possible has only led us away from the very things we were seeking.
Contentment. Satisfaction. Joy. Peace. Purpose. Meaning. Love. Aren’t these the things that big dreams were supposed to give us? They are, but the big dreams were never big enough to keep their promises. When Jesus turned the ladder of success upside down, he showed us that the treasures we’ve been seeking, and so much more beyond them, are hidden in a field—hidden in his mustard-seed kingdom that grows in the ordinary daily things of ordinary life, the things that the world keeps overlooking as insignificant. We thought the answers were above us, that somehow if we made ourselves big enough then we could mean something, and be recognised, and finally be satisfied. But looking up and climbing over each other to make ourselves as big as possible has only led us away from the very things we were seeking.
This is an extract adapted from Dream Small by Seth Lewis. In this encouraging book, Seth helps us to discover the secret power of the ordinary Christian life, showing how God has made us for more than the biggest dreams on Earth can provide.
Seth Lewis is an elder at Midleton Baptist Church on the south coast of Ireland and is involved in a variety of ways in a partnership of local Irish churches who are working together to plant new churches, provide Bible training through Munster Bible College, and run youth camps through Munster Christian Camps. Seth and his wife, Jessica, have three children, a turtle and a small garden. Seth writes weekly at sethlewis.ie.
