Hidden Treasure

Most people respond with great interest when anyone mentions “treasure”!  Immediately we begin to imagine boxes of jewels, nuggets of gold or valuable artifacts.  We think of something with great value that we would like to have. 

However, the concept of what constitutes “treasure” might be worth some consideration.  Have you ever thought that when the gold in “them the’re hills” is undiscovered, it accrues no value to anyone.  Right now there may be gold in a ridge along the Great Dividing Range, but its value is not recognised because it has not been discovered.  When it is found and assigned in ownership to someone then its value is realised.  It is still the same piece of gold, but in the first instance is “un-owned” and without value assigned to it, but once “found” is owned and has great value.  The action that realises the value is relationship – and the value assigns to the owner, not to the object itself.  In summary, the treasure has no value without an owner!

If we think of our lives like that piece of gold, our lives accrue value when we develop and expand relationships.  The realisation of value first start with ourselves.  We must have self-respect, self esteem, or a sense of self-worth before we can begin to be of values to others.  This is a core relationship without which we will feel that we are of little value in life.  Our “inner being” must be aligned with our environment, or our “outer being”, for our life to feel valuable. 

Then the next step increase in our realised value comes from our relationships with other people.  Serving and doing things for others is a key to finding happiness in ourselves.  Our life assumes an increased value as we do things for other people.  There are lots of explanations for this as perceived from many perspectives, but the intrinsic treasure in having friends and helping others is endorsed by people from all walks of life.

Then there is a further way in which the value of our lives can be maximised.  As Christians we believe that there is a God Who is our Creator, and the true potential value of our lives is “hidden” in relationship with Him.  If He takes ownership of our lives then the maximum value of our life starts to be realised.

I recently read that if we were to count stars at the rate of 125 every minute (that is about as fast as we can count), it would take 2,000 years to count the starts just in our own Milky Way.  What would it take, then, to count them all!  Our physically constrained minds are not able to comprehend, but within each of us is hidden another part of our being, which “treasure” can be developed through a relationship with our Creator.  We believe in a God Who not only knows how many stars there are, but Who also made them!  If we can connect with this part of our being, and allow this Greater Power to take ownership of our minds then the value of our life increases beyond measure as a result of that relationship.  Within this relationship we become an immeasurably valuable treasure. 

We would like to invite you to visit us, or a Church in your local Community, to discuss looking for the hidden treasure in your life.  You may be of more value than you think!  See Church Notices in this Paper for times of Meetings at the Christian Israelite Church at 196 Campbell Street – we have been in continuous service there since 1853 helping to meet the needs of people in a changing society.