When I was a kid, I collected a TON of sports cards. Seriously, I would save up everything I had to buy cards. Boxes upon boxes of them.
My favorite athlete was Joe Montana, the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. I had his jersey and had tons of posters of him and I sought to collect every card made that displayed his picture.
In card collecting and trading, it is pretty common for a player’s rookie card to be the most valuable one. This rookie card, which highlights a player’s first year as a pro athlete, can be hard to come by and that was definitely the case with Joe Montana’s rookie card…. Any time I purchased cards and came upon a card of another athlete that was worth money, I would frantically find out how much it was worth and add it to a tally of what I could trade someone to get Joe Montana’s rookie card. I was crazed. My brothers made fun of me. My dad called me a mad man and refused to take me to the card store for a period of time. I would have traded everything I had for Joe Montana’s rookie card. Sadly, I still don’t have a Joe Montana rookie card. I am not bitter about it though.
I remembered my card trading days the other day when I read this verse, Matthew 13:44: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
As youth leaders are we accurately describing relationship with Jesus as the most precious thing we can obtain? Are we proclaiming Jesus as the One that is the answer to all our prayers? Are we upholding Him, beyond our particular group culture or church climate, as the holy Son of God that seeks to fill every part of our lives? Are we truly reflecting and calling people to believe and trust in the One that is greater than anything this world has to offer?
When we truly embrace Jesus for all that He is on a daily basis, we feel compelled to give up everything else to follow Him. Are you feeling captivated to that extent? Are your teens? Transformation happens when we embrace Jesus in this way.
Just some thoughts.
Wow – such a great post Adam. I am inspired by your passion for Jesus. Today I spent a couple hours working on the schedule of teachings/teachers/outreaches for Project Timothy. I was excited by the number of topics and ministry times that will focus on a personal level of knowing Jesus. I hope we can all keep that as a central focus in all things like you encourage. Great post!