The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field

An Incredible Find

A father and two daughters in Australia were walking with their dog named "Lucky" last Sunday when
they made a "lucky" find.

"I actually walked right past it but my daughter pretty much kicked it as she was walking," the
father told the Bendigo Advertiser. "She then goes, 'Dad, is this gold?' I said, 'I think it might
be.'"

It was indeed a gold nugget. They took the nugget to a local supermarket to weigh it. It weighs 20
ounces, or 1.25 pounds. The family claims that its value could be close to $24,000 U.S. dollars.

"We've come on some tough times," the father admitted, "so it's really good because we've been
struggling financially. It couldn't be better timing really." *

There is an even more incredible find that is actually available to anyone who is willing to
"search" for it.

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid;
and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:44-46).

The greatest "find" is to discover the kingdom of heaven and enter into it, for it is an eternal
kingdom with spiritual blessings that are worth far more than all the gold in the world - or
anything else that this world has to offer.

Christ is reigning over His spiritual kingdom even now. He is "at the right hand of God, angels and
authorities and powers having been made subject to Him" (1 Peter 3:22). The subjects of Christ's
kingdom are those who have submitted their lives to His reign through their trusting obedience. The
spiritual kingdom of Christ on earth is the church which will become the eternal, heavenly kingdom
when Jesus returns (1 Corinthians 15:24; 2 Peter 1:11).

Sin will keep us out of Christ's kingdom (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians
5:5). We are ALL sinners, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

How does one have his sin remitted so that he can become a subject of Christ's kingdom?

Jesus told Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom" (Matthew 16:19). These "keys" unlock
the doors of the kingdom so that we may enter. We find Peter and the apostles revealing the keys of
the kingdom when they proclaim Christ as Lord and Christ - "Anointed One," the King - in Acts 2. As
a result of their preaching, many of the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost realized they had
crucified the sinless Son of God. They cried out to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and
brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37).

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). These
were the keys of the kingdom! The Jews on Pentecost and others to whom the Gospel of Christ would
be preached were told that if they placed their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turned
from their sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessed Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and were
baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38; 22:16), then their sins would be washed away by the
blood that Jesus shed for them on the cross (Ephesians 1:7).

"Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were
added to them" (Acts 2:41). They were added to the kingdom of Christ, the church.

Those same "keys" may be used to enter in Christ's kingdom today.

Won't YOU use those keys to have your sins washed away so that you can enter into Christ's eternal
kingdom?

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from "Australian family finds $24G gold nugget on family walk with dog named
Lucky" by Nicole Darrah of Fox News, www.foxnews.com