Treasure

An old man's family falls on hard times. His family has gone several days without food, so he turns to a last resort. Years earlier, a mysterious stranger gave him a map. The stranger told him the map would someday lead him to treasure beyond the man's wildest dreams. Although the man was skeptical when he received the map, his desperate situation leads him to his attic to retrieve it. In his old age, he cannot go on the journey, so he sends his two sons with the map and what little supplies they have left to find this treasure.

On this journey, the sons initially encounter great success. The map is extremely accurate, and every place they reach corresponds exactly to its directions. Filled with hope, they continue on their quest. As they reach more dangerous areas, a group of bandits attack the sons. The sons are left on the side of the road bloodied and robbed.

One son asks the other, "Why did we come out here? We never stood a chance of succeeding."

The other answers, "Beats me. We shouldn't have listened to dad's crazy ideas about treasure. These stories are just fairy tales. I bet the stranger that gave the map to him was one of these bandits."

As the second son speaks, the first son looks at the ground and sees a small piece of paper. Looking closer, he realizes it is the treasure map. He says, "Look! The map! The bandits must have overlooked it!"

The second son walks to the first and examines the map. Memories from the journey fill his mind and he remembers how successful it had been before the bandits. He remembers how the map never failed them, and realizes that there must be a real treasure. His brother realizes the same, and they once again set off on their journey. Sure enough, they reach the spot where the map designates the treasure, and they find more gold, treasure, and jewels than they ever could have imagined. They bring it back to their father and their family survives.

So now you ask, "what's the point?".

I don't know about you, but I've been in the situation those sons were in when they were attacked. On our journey of faith, we come to these moments where we experience failure, get persecuted, hear some really convincing counter-arguments to Christianity, or simply drift away. It doesn't matter how much God has done for us earlier (like the map had helped at the beginning of the story), this one moment brings our entire faith into question. Like the sons in the story, we begin to question, "Am I really sure about this whole God thing? Sometimes I wonder if I should just scrap the whole thing. After all, it's all just a bunch of fairy tales, right?" It's a scary time. The smallest things can create doubt, and that doubt starts threatening our entire belief system. What should we do in these times of doubt?

We do exactly what the sons did in the story. When the first son discovers their map in their time of doubt, he makes an important realization: they would not have had any hope at all if they had never seen this map. This map had been 100% accurate up until this point, so why would it not lead them to treasure?

So we do the same thing. We look to the Map that has been with us from the start: the Cross. No matter what we hear, what we experience, or what we feel, these things can never change that 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ hung on a tree. When you are doubting, step back and remember that no matter how much fog surrounds you, nothing can take away that the Son of God suffered, died and rose for you. You were once about to starve to death, but the Map brought you life!

On this Good Friday, remember that God became a man, did no wrong, and experienced pain, suffering, beatings, whips, humiliation, betrayal, desertion from his closest followers, and a slow and tortuous death. He did all these things because we deserve those things. He did them because we failed Him in our sin. He did them so you didn't have to. He did them because His love surpasses anything we can fathom.

"And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!"
Philippians 2:8