The Hidden Treasure of Jesus
In 2012, Michael Rorrer, was cleaning out his great aunt’s basement after she had passed away. Tucked away in a closet was a box of 345 comics that his great uncle had been collecting since he was a little boy. Rorrer had no idea what he had found. In fact, he did not even keep the box. He let his mom take it home to give to his younger brother because he knew he liked comic books. A few days later, Michael was talking with one of his co-workers, and after describing the cover of one of the comicbooks, the co-worker told him, “You should look into that box - some of those books might be valuable!” After calling his mother and asking for the box of comics back, Rorrer discovered just how valuable some of them were.
In fact, he found among others:
Detective Comics #27 – 1st appearance of Batman
Action Comics #2 – 1st appearance of Superman
Captain America #1 – 1st appearance of Captain America
44 of the top 100 most valuable comic books of all time were in this box!
Rorrer ended up selling the whole collection for $3.5 million. His life was completely changed and will never be the same again. And to think, he almost missed out because he didn’t know the value of what he had found right in front of him. Rorrer’s story sounds just like a parable Jesus told in Matthew 13:44 about a treasure hidden in a field that a man discovers. How do we know when something of great value is right in front of us and what do we do with it once we have discovered it?
Imagine now for a moment, a man is suddenly standing right in front of you, but you do not know who he is. He looks at you and your eyes meet. In that same moment, your eyes meet, you feel something in your heart you have never felt before. Something is telling you this is no ordinary man. You can almost feel your body being drawn closer and closer to him yet you are not moving. He begins to speak, and the sound of his voice is so full of grace and authority that it instantly brings chills or goose bumps to your arms. Everything he begins to say about God, himself, you, and life are connecting in ways you never thought or imagined.
Being in his very presence makes you want to stop time and never leave this moment.
He tells you everything about your life, the good, the bad, the exciting moments, the scary moments. The times you were most proud of yourself. The times you were most ashamed of yourself. He talks about what others know about you. He talks about the things that no one else has a clue about you. He tells you how much he desires to be with you. He tells you how much he loves you. He calls you by name. He calls you son or daughter. He tells you what he was willing to do on a cross just to be with you in this moment. He tells you how much he wants you to know him.
You can feel the love, grace, mercy, awareness, passion, freedom, and peace he has for you and it begins to overcome you. Tears begin to form in your eyes, not out of sadness but a place of pure joy. You realize, for the first time, that Love and Life, the Son of God, Jesus Christ is standing right in front of you!
Now I want you to imagine that it is time for the both of you to leave this moment and Jesus says to you, “It’s time for me to go but I want you to come with me. Will you follow me? Will you follow me now that you know who I am? Will you follow me knowing how much I love you? Will you follow me knowing what I did to show you just how much I love you? Will you follow me knowing that the life you are searching for is only found in me?”
“Will you follow me?”
I know for some reading this; you have already had this moment with Jesus and chose to follow him because you recognized the value of what it means to put your faith in Christ.
For some, you have had this moment, where the Gospel was presented to you but for whatever reason, you did not recognize the value right in front of you and choose to walk away. Perhaps, this blog can serve a purpose as the conversation Rorrer had with his co-worker that made him realize what he had walked away from, and just like Rorrer, may you turn and run back to Jesus!
But for others, you have not yet had this moment with Jesus. My hope and prayer for you is that you stop reading this blog right now and open a Bible where inside you find a story unlike any other. It is the greatest love story ever told. It is the most successful rescue mission ever attempted. In this story there is freedom. In this story there is identity. In this story there is value, joy, peace, mercy, forgiveness, and love that is everlasting.
John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Like Rorrer, may your life be completely and forever changed as you discover the value of something you thought had no value, BUT let it be changed by putting your faith and trust in the name of Jesus Christ, because seeing the value of choosing to follow Jesus changes EVERYTHING!
