"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid, then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
(Matthew 13:44)
I love watching the show "PAWN STARS" on the History Channel. It's filmed at Gold & Silver Pawn in Las Vegas, chronicling various customers, negotiations, and purchases at this particular pawn shop. I love the history that's revealed about the pieces that come in for sale. Occasionally Rick (the owner) finds something he really wants from a customer. It's intriguing to see how they negotiate an agreeable price for sale. Sometimes, however, despite really wanting an item, the price isn't reasonable, so Rick declines buying it. Other times, it's the seller who refuses Rick's "best price" and walks away without selling.
Jesus told a parable that wouldn't play well on Pawn Stars. Someone finds something they really want. But instead of negotiating, s/he simply "sells all" that they have and buys it. It may not make the best economic sense (could they have got it a bit cheaper, we wonder?), but they got what they wanted.
Of course, Jesus is referring to the Kingdom of God. He wanted to teach us how we should view it in terms of the priority it has in our life. It should be THE ONE THING that we must have. Everything else pales in comparison. There's no need to "negotiate" for God's Kingdom. We don't need to worry about holding anything else back for later. That's all we need. Period.
Own Pawn Stars, Rick's dad ("The Old Man") loves silver. He buys it every chance he can. He knows silver holds its value. Maybe that's closer to Jesus' parable. An entire pawn shop of silver might make for a boring TV show... but it sure would make The Old Man happy! Maybe that's something we could learn from.
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