Neglected Treasure

We thought we knew what to expect when we bought our first home. Deposits, closings, key exchange, and house debt. We got all those things and so much more. The former owner gave us a 17-page manual of instructions for the garden, house, and garage. My husband, Peter, and I started quipping, “What would Susan say?” any time we ran into something new which was now our responsibility. More times than not, Susan had addressed the topic in question. 

On the last page of her manual, Susan wrote, “I was given a business card envelop with  dozens of lose keys in it when I moved in 18 years ago; they are now yours. No idea what they go to, no idea if they’re important, don’t really care what you do with them. They’re part of the house, though.” Just like Susan, we threw the envelop in the junk drawer of the kitchen three years ago, and there they have stayed. 

Sometimes, I find myself imagining up what the keys open. A suitcase full of money? A safe full of war-time love letters? A teenager’s diary? A safety deposit box with someone’s life savings? What if we’re sitting on treasure and we don’t even know it? Both Peter and I have decidedly shrugged our shoulders and muttered, “I guess we’ll never know. We just don’t have the time.” 

Life often makes me curious, leaves me filled with doubt, or stretches me, and God immediately hands me the key—His Word! And yet, I can find myself muttering, “I guess I’ll never know. I just don’t have the time to find the answer. My spiritual journey finds itself waylaid in much the same way the possible treasure hunt in our home has been. 

May we never lose sight of the treasure we hold in God’s Word. May we never let it go to waste in our lives simply because we don’t feel like we have the time to invest in the treasure the Bible leads us to possess!