TEN MILLION DOLLARS IN TIN CANS!

Donald L. Phillips Ph.D.

Part I

I woke up at 3:30 AM this morning and my mind was flooded with this thought and prayer, “Thank you Father for the awesome treasure you have given to the followers of Christ, and I know that this treasure is Jesus and His Kingdom.”

My thoughts went immediately to 2 Corinthians 4: 7.  “If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious (Treasure) Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.” (The Message Bible)

Here is a recent news item that is pleasing the world:   “Gold coins worth ten million dollars found in some old rusty tin cans!”  It tells of a couple in California who found these old rusty tin cans containing numerous gold coins worth over ten million dollars.  Most people are thinking, “I wish that was me because I could certainly use ten million dollars right now.”

If you are a follower of Christ, you have a treasure in Jesus and His kingdom that is worth far more than all the riches in the world. That precious treasure is Jesus and He wants us to make Him known to a world that desperately needs Him now. 

Here is a story that helps illustrate a very important message I am trying to convey. A very wealthy man and his son loved arts and would travel the world to purchase famous paintings.  The man’s son was drafted into the military and went to Viet Nam.  He was killed in battle attempting to rescue his comrades. The father was deeply grieved. 

A few months later a man came to visit him and told him that he was one of the men his son saved.  He said your son and I were good friends and we both loved the arts and that he was a portrait painter himself.  He said he painted a portrait of his son and gave it to the father as a gift.  The father was amazed at how the artist had captured the features of his son.  The father treasured the painting of his son more than the others. 

A short time later the father died and his estate came up for sale.  The auctioneer presented the painting of the son as the first item.  “What am I bid for the son?” The crowd said, “We don’t want to bid on that painting because the painter is unknown.”  The auctioneer continued the auction.  “What am I bid for the painting of the son?”   A man from the back of the room stood up and said, “Sir, I am the gardener for this estate. I loved that young man; he was like my own son. I would like to buy that painting but all I have is twenty dollars. “Do I hear thirty?”  No further bid so the gardener paid his twenty dollars and took possession of the painting of the son.

Then the auctioneer announced that the auction was closed.  The audience was enraged because they had come from all over the world to get bargains.  The auctioneer stated that there was a stipulation in the will that said, “WHOEVER GETS THE SON, GETS THE WHOLE ESTATE.”

May God help us know how blessed we are to have Jesus and His Kingdom living in us.  Let us share Him with the world!

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Donald L. Phillips Ph.D. LifeCoachDon@att.net    www.drdonphillips.com.

You can order his book: “Healing Broken Lives and Relationships” through Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc.  It is available in hard copy or eBook format.

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