This winter has been harsh: lots of snow, snow banks, cold weather locally, lots of people complaining about the worst weather in living memory.
Well, after it thaws, people get grateful. The snow backs away. Things warm up. People are more comfortable and safe on the roads.
There is a parallel in the way I found a small treasure one week: I found over $50 on the ground in just over a week’s time.
Much of it was along parking spots. Two places however stick out in my mind most prominently though.
Once, I was walking along on a near regular routine of picking up my mail after a Monday afternoon class. After I crossed the street at a little different place, I walked along a sidewalk and spotted two bills. I thought they were two new $1 bills. They turned out to be two $20 bills. Still intact. Freshly thawed from the snow. Wow!! I knew I couldn’t keep that and I had already committed to give some funds to a particular ministry or three. In English law, the following applies:
The general rule attaching to the three types of property may be summarized as: A finder of property acquires no rights in mislaid property, is entitled to possession of lost property against everyone except the true owner, and is entitled to keep abandoned property.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_property
This derives from Jewish law in Leviticus 6:
http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/avedah4.html
So what if there is no identifying information about whose money or property it is? This money is to be given to the Lord.
Why?
A. God is the ultimate Finder. He finds the lost coin and the lost sheep and the lost son in Luke 15.
B. God is the ultimate Owner. He teaches us to profit and all that we have ultimately belongs to Him. (Isaiah 48:17)
C. We should share the first-fruits of what we receive with the Lord and share all good things with our Teacher. (Galatians 6; Proverbs 3:9-10)
D. You didn’t earn it, it is a gift which is for the poor.
This also undercuts the motive of the heart to look for lost property of others in order to keep it for oneself.
Oh, how wicked is the heart. We make a little extra and want to keep it all to ourselves. Instead the Lord says: give & it will be given unto you.
At times I have kept money I found to myself, but in the end it was like gravel until my generosity renewed.
So back to the $40 I found. Sometimes the gifts of God are great in quantity and this is what is so special about them.
Other times, it is the mere fact that the harder we look, the more we find.
This was true one day as I was riding on the bus and elected to transfer. As I waited for my next bus to arrive, I decided to look for coins. I found a few. and then some more. And more. And just as the bus was driving up, I looked behind me, and there in plain view, in the middle of the sidewalk was a slough of coins. Now, they were virtually all pennies. But there were so many that appeared suddenly, that I thought I had a hole in my pocket and that I was dropping them as soon as I picked them up. But no, no hole. God just blessed me with finding a bunch of pennies. The whole time, I meditated on how God looks for the lost and how the harder we look, the more we find.
I was so excited over those pennies that I started to talk to people on the bus about the way God puts treasures in our path for us to find, namely grace. God’s treasures of grace are all along the route every day of the year.
Now, if I was so excited about some silly pennies, HOW MUCH MORE should we be excited about whenever the lost souls are found? We should dance every time someone starts making good decisions. We should be happy every time someone decides to follow Jesus! We should shout every time someone chooses to serve the Lord!!
If finding something small produces pleasure, then finding grace in the eyes of God through our Lord Jesus Christ should produce so much more pleasure.
What have you found lately? Where have you been looking for treasure lately? What have you found joy in lately? Have you found favor in the eyes of God? Have you found the goodness of God in Christ Jesus? Look into his word.
Perhaps you say, “I read a fancy Bible and get little out of it.” It is not the fanciness of the Bible or the fanciness of your interpretation. It is the obedience to what is heard. Let us all obey and share the treasures God gives us with those who have not yet heard.
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