What is God’s kingdom? When someone speaks about the kingdom of heaven, or when you pray, “Your kingdom come,” what does it actually mean? Do you belong to the kingdom of heaven? Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man found and hid in a field. The man sold everything that he had so that he could buy the field that the treasure is hidden in.

This can all sound a bit confusing, so it is important to understand what the kingdom of heaven is. God’s kingdom is wherever God is reigning. It is the place where God is king. It is where God’s will is being obeyed.

God’s kingdom is already here. You are part of that kingdom if Christ is ruling your heart. You and your family and others in your church who love the Lord are all part of this kingdom.

It is something very special, very precious, to belong to God’s kingdom. Not everybody is part of that kingdom, but only those who are God’s special covenant people. The man in the parable found a treasure. A treasure is something very precious, very special. This man knew that he had found something special, and that is why he sold everything that he had so that he could buy the field that the treasure was in. His house and his clothes and his business would probably all have been very important to this man. But now that he found this treasure, all those other things weren’t that important anymore. He could get rid of all of them, just so he could have the treasure.

And that’s exactly how precious God’s kingdom must be to us. Nothing is more important than God’s kingdom. Your clothes, your friends, your family, your toys, your home — none of these should be as important to you as the kingdom of heaven. This means that if there are things that are too important to you, or sins in your life that you enjoy, you must get rid of them so you can focus on your treasure — on serving the Lord.

Reflection with your child:

Are you part of the kingdom of heaven?

Source: Sermon by Rev. H. Alkema