Finders’ Keepers
When I was young, and a bunch of the neighborhood kids would be playing together somebody would inevitably lose something. Often a few coins would fall out of their pocket. Once the person discovered they lost some money, everyone went on the hunt.
The rule was, “finders’ keepers,” That meant who ever found it, got to keep it. There actually is a common law that states that the person who finds a lost item gets to keep it until the owner shows up to claim it. If the owner never shows up, the person can keep it.
Jesus told a parable about a person finding a buried treasure in a field he did not own. Back in those days people did not put their money in banks, there was none. Burying valuables was a way to hide them from thieves. If the person died, the treasure would remain buried until someone found it.
In the parable Jesus relates that the man who found the treasurer reburied it. He did not just take it. He went, sold all he had, bought the property the treasure was buried in, dug it up again, and it legally became his.
The point of the parable is that the treasure God wants us to “find” is the kingdom of heaven. It is so valuable; it is worth giving everything we own to possess it.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7NIV
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