“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
– Mat. 13:44 NRSV
So, here I am a the field. What now?
The verse is from the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible. The metaphor sounds good and everything. But when I really think about it, sometimes it feels like it doesn’t apply. The field I find myself occupying is one in which I’ve always lived. I’ve been immersed in church and Christianity and all that surrounds it pretty much my entire life. So this place where I find myself living, this place I’ve assumed to be “The Field”, might not be the one Jesus is referring to here in this story. The one in the story had to be bought. Mine was inherited.
So, what exactly am I supposed to be buying? And what does this treasure actually look like? Will I know it when I find it? Am I actually supposed to find “it”? Maybe its all about the search.
The diverse ramblings you find here are my attempts to explore what that quote from the Gospel of Matthew actually means. I’ll write about many different topics but this question animates most everything I find myself thinking about. I consider myself an aspiring follower of Jesus. It’s not a destination. I believe the blessings are in the following, not the possessing. This is what I’ll be exploring in this blog.
so here we are in the field... 
can i ask where you are? the picture seems so beautiful, and yet so desolate….
i appreciate the idea that the blessings are in the following, not the possessing. i remember a convo with God where He was gently breaking me of desiring the outcome only and immediately. i asked Him why i do, and He said it was because i focus more on the outcome than the journey with Him. so beautiful that He chooses to walk beside us…beyond my comprehension really.
this photo was taken on a trip I made to Morocco several years ago. This was taken in the High Atlas mountains…gorgeous village, beautiful people. To me it was a good pict reflecting the title I had given my blog.
As to the following vs. possessing…it’s an idea I’ve been intrigued with for a while. Our western consumer culture places a lot of value in possessing/owning stuff. Deep in our psyche is a desire to own our own home, car, business, etc. (nothing wrong with any of that). However, I think those ideas have forced us to think of our faith as something to possess as well. It becomes a system of belief that we attempt to master. To most modern evangelical christians, “discipleship” is a class in which we master information. I’m becoming more convinced that it is a lifestyle of following God in the way of Jesus (sort of an unwieldy term but I like what it says). “I’m a Christian” says “I’ve arrived and am a member in good standing of the club.” “Following God in the way of Jesus” implies a journey that will engage me for the rest of my life.