The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:44–46.
Above everything else, you must have a sense of values of what is really important, without which it will be difficult to make it in this walk with God. You have to know what is of value to you or you will find yourself constantly shifting from the goal to lesser objectives. Many people in this hour are trampling over the field, failing to see the treasure. They don’t really understand what is going on. The field has a lot of weeds in it, but still you take the field if you are going to buy the treasure. The sacrifice that God requires of us is total. You sell all that you have to get the treasure in the field. If you complain about the cost instead of rejoicing in the treasure, you will never make it. You have to see what this means.
Peter asked a question, “Lord, I have left all to follow You, what will I have therefore?” I asked the Lord what will I get? While waiting on the Lord I received the most beautiful answer, “What you have always wanted—a walk with Me.” Is there anything more wonderful than that? Can you point to any possession, any treasure, anything you could have in this world as wonderful as this walk with God in the end time—to know Him and to come into this experience of communion and fellowship with the Lord? It’s worth the price! It is worth the total price that is required. You have to pay it.
You have to see the treasure somewhat in your mind; but can you really know what the full extent of it is? It is almost like a witness to your spirit; like something you can never really know until it unfolds and your capacity is greatly increased to know what this walk really means. We’re living in the days of the Kingdom, and God is going to bring forth more things in this generation than have occurred in any generation since Adam was first put in the garden. The things that God will bring forth will be of such a wide range—all the way from the most amazing outpourings of His Spirit to the most devastating, convulsive judgments that the world has ever seen.
We want to walk with God. This is the time for it, the generation for it. There never was a time more wonderful. But what will it mean? Something within you has to bear witness that God is in the walk and it’s for you, and when you know it’s for you, then you will let nothing distract you. Sometimes you have to kick away a lot of garbage, rubbish, weeds, junk, many things—before you can even get a glimpse of the treasure. People have so many things standing in the way when they come into this walk. Like the old Irishman said, “There are so many troubles between the cradle and the grave, it’s a wonder that as many of us get to the grave as do.” When you see how many things stand to hinder the people of God from going on, from getting what they really want, it is a wonder that as many of them come into it as do. Remember Nehemiah, surveying the walls, walking around and looking them over, and seeing so much rubbish? We can be thankful that God is clearing the rubbish away and helping us to see what the treasure is.
You won’t know the full extent of the treasure. You haven’t the capacity to know it. It is something that has to be taken by faith. It’s something like the visit of Mary to Elizabeth. When Mary knew by the announcement of the angel that the Holy Spirit was overshadowing her, and that she would bring forth in her womb the Son of God, she made haste to find her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was an old woman who had never had any children; but now she was in her time of waiting for the blessing to come. As Elizabeth saw Mary approaching, the Scripture says that babe within her leaped for joy and she began to prophesy. The Holy Spirit had already filled that little baby being formed in the womb of Elizabeth. It was difficult for them in those days; they had prophecies, but when they came, Mary would ponder them in her heart, and wonder what was to be. Elizabeth probably didn’t really know either. But here the treasures of the world were being carried in their wombs and they didn’t realize it. A sense of destiny has to be realized now. The living word has come to your hearts again and again. And in the womb of your heart you carry a treasure that could bless every nation on the face of the earth.
You need to understand what it was like in the days when Jesus walked along and said to some fishermen, “Come. Follow Me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” They didn’t know what it meant. And they weren’t worthy men. He didn’t pick the wise, learned men, or the geniuses. They were too busy in their own pursuits; they had long since decided on the objectives they wanted. He found men going about their simple tasks and called them to something greater than themselves—something so vastly greater than the fish they were catching in the net, or the receipt of customs where Matthew sat—something so far beyond anything that their lives could even envision, greater than their own capacity to know it. They walked with Him, they followed Him, ate with Him and slept where He slept. Ordinary men they were, called into something so far greater than themselves, as if caught by a wave of divine grace and swept into that which they never could have attained.
And now again God is visiting the earth with His power and He is moving upon the hearts of men. Oh, if men only had the wisdom to see it! If they only knew the day of visitation, the time that God has appointed. If they only knew the word that is coming forth in this hour. If they would understand what God would do for their lives, for their hearts, if they would leave all and pay the price. Sell everything; buy that field that has no appearance of anything grand, but hidden in it is that treasure of great price. Leave all your possessions; sell them all. Find something like a pearl of great price that you can hold in the palm of your hand.
You will have to have a sense of values though, before you do that. You have to appreciate it. You have to know above everything else that God wants to do something for you. Bringing it down to one simple thing: what do you really want? Are you ready to try for the best; or would you settle for something less? Don’t say you wouldn’t settle for something less; the race gets rough; the battle sometimes involves unbelievable spiritual conflicts. But when you know what God has said and you know what He is bringing forth, you can say in your heart, “I’ll not settle for anything less than God’s best in this hour, whatever it is He has for me;” and mean it, follow through with it—this takes a great deal of diligence, but above all it takes a dedication. You have to love Him with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength. There is an elusive something which I call hunger that has to be there. It is a yearning, a straining after God, if you want everything He has for you.