HIDDEN TREASURE WITHIN

HIDDEN TREASURE WITHIN

There is a lot of focus on our outward appearance and how we appear to others, but what is really going on inside of us?  The things going on inside us, is actually who we really are; our very souls. Our bodies are just carriers of what we hold inside of us.  We all know that because we are human, often our bodies fail us, however this doesn't change who we are inside. The way we think, feel, love and respond says a lot about who we are.  

There's so much in today's world that focuses our attention to the outside; get this lotion or potion and we will have the miracle of good looks, success and eternal beauty; most of which is marketing to ensure we invest our good earned cash on their transforming products.  Like it or not, our bodies are human and we all, no exception, will age, so how much value do we put on our our inward selves? 

It reminded me of Jesus, he came to earth as a man in bodily form and within him he carried everything of God!  He claimed that him and God were the same, everything that God was and is, was carried within Jesus; a human being.  Totally human, but totally divine.  On the outside he didn't look anything special, he looked the same as any other man, but inside of him were the real jewels, but not everyone could see the treasure he was carrying.

Jesus was often accused of blasphemy as some scholars of the time were expecting someone special as the Messiah. Unfortunately, they completely missed what was inside of Jesus, that he was the Son of God, the Saviour and the Messiah they were looking for. Because Jesus didn't come as someone magnificent, someone glorious in the world's eyes, but someone very ordinary, someone very humble and poor, it didn't fit their egotistic ideas that they had in their minds about their Messiah.  It says in Col 2, 9-10 - For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.  Some may have even felt embarrassed that this Messiah they had been bragging about to everyone for so long, was not who they anticipated and how could they ever introduce such an ordinary man to people as their Messiah?  So instead of valuing the treasure Jesus held inside and worshiping him, they looked down on him, they misjudged him and despised Him. They perceived him as a liar and a nuisance and their hate eventually drove them to kill Jesus because they didn't recognise who is was. Who do you recognise Jesus as?

We have to be careful we don't look just at our outward selves for acclaim but notice the inward movements of our souls.  What does the inward you - say about you?   Sometimes we need to look deep within our souls to really see who we are.  Are we who we want to be starting from the inside?  Are we going to let Jesus renew our inward beauty day by day until we become more like him; more like our creator. 

The phrase 'Beauty is Only Skin Deep' holds a lesson; our physical stance is only an external attribute but beneath the skin we are all the same. Just as Jesus, where do you hold your treasure, on the outside or on the inside?  Do we recognise the beauty inside of others and do we value that beauty? Whatever age, young or old - we all hold this treasure within us. Ultimately who we are will last forever, our very souls are what we take with us - wow I hope I'm going to like the soul I'm taking with me into heaven!  I'll leave you with these bible verses to ponder on today? 

Lv Caroline 

2 Corin 9, 7-10  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 

v 16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.