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.” (Matthew 13:44)
A Life of Distinction with No Distinctions
This entry is a tribute to someone who influenced my life. In a good way. He was someone who did not seek to draw attention to himself but simply lived to help others. The ironic thing is that I was introduced to him by someone that also impacted me. He had been influenced by this man prior to ever meeting me. The Kingdom of God is like that. It is infectious. It spreads when the elements of influence are willing vessels that seek only His (Jesus)Glory. He has been gone from his earthly domain for approximately 5 years now. He left without me even knowing because of my own disobedience and journey away from my own purpose. His seed remains in me as well as many others. Of that I am sure. He is even teaching me a lesson now. Kingdom seeds are the only thing that remain. They may appear dormant or dead only to sprout at times when we least expect. I am reminded that God is the author and finisher of our faith.
I first met this man and his wonderful wife in the early 1990s. I was a Pastor then struggling with my own faith and trying to help those in my care with theirs. I was also becoming more and more distant from my young wife due to my insistence to focus all of my efforts on the “task” I believed that God had set before me. My friend and in many ways my Pastor, (although in form I was his Pastor), introduced me to this man and his wife due to some medical ailments and concerns I had. This person of which I speak was a well-respected physician. He maintained a practice inside his home on the outskirts of Griffin, GA. I recall he also worked as a physician at a nearby prison but poured his life into others at his home and generally wherever he went. For me our first meeting was the strangest of experiences. I went in their home and they immediately started “loving on me.” I loved it. The natural part of me (the earthly) was a little uncomfortable at first, partly because I had always been intimidated by physicians and partly because so much of what they did was tied to “there” while I spent so much of my life “here.” Let me explain as best I can. The Kingdom of God is a whole different dimension. If we are fortunate, we may catch a glimpse of the Kingdom and expeience it while we are in this present world. Most of us, even when we are “being spiritual”, live our lives bound by this present world and rarely live “there” (in the Kingdom reality). Occasionally, God in His infinite Grace, allows us to glimpse someone who is living so much in the reality of God’s Kingdom, they appear like an “odd duck” in this dimension. As I heard W.A. Criswell, the famous Pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, TX for many years, stated of Corrie Ten Boom-the missionary that, “She was so much there that she brought there to here. She’d be talking to me one minute and go off with God the next.” This was my experience with this couple in Griffin, GA. When I was with them, I often didn’t know what was happening but just knew it was something good. They had a “prophet room” upstairs reserved for sojourners such as myself. I found out later that this room was open to many servants of God who came to them for healing of various kinds. They set aside time for praise, ministering, and general healing. They seemed to stay in this state but they set aside the times so that I could enter that state with them. Everything was covered from spiritual surgery to prostate exams. I found this union of realities wonderful. One characteristic of all of this still remains striking to me. There was NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANY ASPECTS OF THEIR LIVES. Everything was integrated. I can say that I have seen that only rarely in my life. (I don’t mean to infer that they didn’t maintain a private husband and wife relationship. They did.) There was no GOING TO WORSHIP. They seemed to remain there. There was no GOING TO CHURCH (although they attended church regularly and he pastored a church). They were constantly in a state of BEING THE CHURCH. As I think about their example, I think about the original purpose of man---to fellowship with God. Herein lies happiness and contentment.
This man is now enjoying his reward. His temporal existence on this earth has given way to full revelation of the Glory of Jesus Christ. However, the influence of this man and his wife, (his wife still resides in that small town), continue to have an impact on this fellow traveler. I am not where I need to be but the Kingdom Influence of people like them helps give me a concrete example of which direction I need to head. His/Her name is unimportant for you who may not have known Him. Some reading this will know. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a 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. “
