Someone once said, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Or woman’s in my wife’s case.
She loves yard sales—a lot. On Saturday mornings, when I should be allowed to sleep in, she wakes me up at dawn. She is already dressed and has the newspaper spread out on the counter. The classified section is open, and the page is covered with bright yellow circles.
Those circles lay out the destiny for my “morning off.” They’re all the yard sales that seem to show promise of a treasure. Beside each yellow circle is a red number. You guessed it; the numbers map out the order in which we are going to travel from yard sale to yard sale.
And so, with cup of coffee in hand, we head out. Not only do we stop and go from highlighted location to highlighted location, Tammi also has her eagle eye trained for cardboard signs stapled to telephone poles. We take detours. We search for that hidden treasure.
There are treasures lurking in the yards of people too cheap to even run an ad. But we will find them. They cannot hide. And there is no yard sale too small.
A blanket on the grass with two piles of clothes on it, a used tire and a broken treadmill, all in the front yard, constitutes a stop. Why? Because there could be a treasure buried under all of that junk.
And you know what? Quite often, people (mostly women) come into our house and ask, “Oh, where did you get this?” And more times than not, the proud answer is, “I found it at a yard sale; it was a hidden treasure.”
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (NIV). Matthew elaborates when he recorded the words of Jesus relating that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, a hidden treasure. And when the merchant found even one pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned to go and purchase the land with the one hidden treasure.
This is just what Jesus does. He searches for that one pearl—you and me! He looks for the hidden treasure. And here is the amazing thing that should blow our minds: To everyone else, we just look like junk—but not to Him.
Romans 5:8 states that, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He literally purchased us with His very life. Why? He saw the hidden treasure. He saw way beyond what could be seen on the outside. We looked like junk at a yard sale. We had no value. We were worthless. We were actually filthy dirty, with no way to clean ourselves up. The more we tried, the more obvious it became that it was hopeless. It was hopeless except to Him. He saw the hidden pearls, and He spent all He had to purchase us.
This week in your life’s journey, you may still feel like yard-sale junk. Life may have covered you with dirt, rust and mold. You may be wondering: Will things ever change? Does my life matter? Do I have any value to anyone?
Remember, to Him you are a pearl, a hidden treasure worth the purchase price—His life.
Change your mindset. See yourself as He sees you. You are valuable and necessary in His kingdom. You are not junk. You are His treasure. You are bought and paid for. And He purchased you for a reason. You matter. You are valuable. You are His hidden treasure, a pearl of great price.
Prayer Power for the Week of October 13, 2014
This week respond to the Lord’s amazing Love with your own devotion and expressed gratitude. Enter this season with the overwhelming realization of the price He paid for you as His priceless treasure. Ask Him to help you see others through His eyes of love and compassion, and be ready to express it verbally and with acts of kindness. Continue to pray for those who have suffered losses through economic hardship, broken relationships, and the passing of loved ones. Remember our fellow persecuted Christians around the world and pray for those tormented because of their faith. Continue to pray for the nation and ask God to show you ways in which you can reach out to your community, share the gospel, and make a difference. Remember Israel and the Middle East along with our military and their families (Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Bill Wiese 
Paul McGuire 
