Have you ever fantasized about winning the lottery, or finding a buried treasure somewhere? Maybe you thought there might be a hiding place in an old house where someone, with a distrust of banks, hid money or jewels or something of great value? I thought how great it would be to stumble on an unrecognized treasure in an antique store or flea market, find a cheap painting with a very valuable one in the same frame, or something like that.

Many years ago, when I was about ten, one Sunday, I was visiting my aunt Agnes. I had been outside playing and was returning to the house for lunch with my cousins. As I walked up to the door I noticed something laying on the gravel driveway in front of the house. I bent down and discovered it was a folded-up bunch of dollar bills. I picked the roll up and counted it. It was four dollars, which at the time was a small fortune to me. I took it inside and asked if anyone had dropped it. No one claimed it. My aunt told me to keep it. I did.

I thought I had found a small treasure.

One day, about thirty years ago, my dad called me with some very interesting news. He was cleaning out his attic in preparation for a yard sale. In the process of removing old unwanted Christmas decorations, old books, lamps, and things like that, he came across an old shoe box. In it were old baseball cards. Dad gave the box to me. Diane and I sorted the cards and put them in plastic pages. Those cards had been part of my childhood collection, and in that box, along with the cards that were not used to make bicycle spoke noise, was a 1963 Micky Mantle baseball card, a Carl Yastrzemski card, and a Harmon Killibrew card. A few weeks later I sold the collection, including the Mickey Mantle card. It alone sold for three hundred dollars. My cards didn’t make me rich, but it was an unexpected small treasure, and I needed the money.

We all dream of striking it rich. We play the lottery and keep our fingers crossed. We fantasize about what we would do with all that money, not just pay off our bills, but take a big trip, go on a cruise, and buy a new car (or motorhome). It is the idea of finding or winning a windfall that excites the most doesn’t it? We dream of how it would change our lives set us on a different road.

Treasures don’t come our way often do they? No windfall, no money in a can buried in the backyard, no lottery winning tickets, not huge anyway. The odds are against any of that happening.

There is a treasure we can all have, however, and it is easy to find. It is more valuable than any painting, or pot of gold.

It is the treasure of God’s Word. It is the bank of God’s principles that can make our worthless lives worth more than all the money in the world. It is something we should be willing to sell everything to get. God’s word, along with his salvation through his Son Jesus, is a gift to us, something that cannot be purchased with money, it is priceless. We can buy it with our lives however, with our belief, that is all it takes. We should give thanks for that, and buy it today if we don’t own it already.

Psalm 119

161 Princes persecute me without cause,

but my heart stands in awe of your words.

162 I rejoice at your word

like one who finds great spoil.

163 I hate and abhor falsehood,

but I love your law.

164 Seven times a day I praise you

for your righteous rules.

165 Great peace have those who love your law;

nothing can make them stumble.

166 I hope for your salvation, O Lord,

and I do your commandments.

167 My soul keeps your testimonies;

I love them exceedingly.

168 I keep your precepts and testimonies,

for all my ways are before you.

169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord;

give me understanding according to your word!

170 Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word.

171 My lips will pour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

172 My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

173 Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

174 I long for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my delight.

175 Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not forget your commandments.