Losing the Precious

Funny what is precious to you when you are nine. My black and white plastic Rat Fink out of a gumball machine was precious. Everybody had at least one, but no one had one like mine. (We all had those little trolls with the big hair, too.) It was that uniqueness that made my RF precious. And I lost my Rat Fink. I was crushed, but there was no one I could tell.

In the Tolkien stories, Gollum calls The Ring his Precious. Of course, it is unique, something like my RF. Irreplacable.

It is no surprise then, to hear Jesus tell the story of the Pearl of Great Price. The idea of a Precious, unique, astounding thing that is worthy of struggle and sacrifice is a story line that runs through human experience. O. Henry wrote the same story in "The Gift of The Magi." Look around for this theme. Tell me what else you find.

It is written about because it is hardwired in us. There is something worth sacrificing for, worth living in a remarkable way for. There are so many hardwired themes.

All Jesus was saying is that The Kingdom is that thing which we were hardwired to seek. The Kingdom of God is The Precious.

But the best thing, the thing that sets The Kingdom apart from every other answer to the question, is that The Precious Kingdom of God CAN NOT BE LOST.

That is the Greatest Story Ever Told. Thank you for giving me a suitable replacement for my plastic rat, Father.