The Eternal CurrentExemplo

In Great Joy

If we are already fully submerged in the presence of God and the reality of the kingdom, then every moment becomes an opportunity to open our eyes and partner with God’s present work of grace. While putting our kids to bed, we can partner with God’s work in our kids, or we can miss out. When we get into a fender bender, we can partner with God’s work in the person who wasn’t paying attention and hit our car, or we can miss out. When our boss overlooks or mistreats us, we can partner with God’s work in and through the situation, or we can miss out. Every moment offers an opportunity to align with God’s immersive presence and get swept up in God’s healing activities in our lives and the life of the world. Every moment beckons us to swim. 

In one of Jesus’s many teachings about the kingdom, he said, “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).

The man caught a vision of the kingdom, and in his great joy sold everything to get it. Friends, this is the entire story. The invitation of Christ is so compelling—such truly good news—that seeing it creates great joy. If your faith feels like a heavy burden, then it’s not the way of Jesus, who proclaims freedom, sight, favor, faith, hope, and love. Catching a clear vision of the treasure of this grace-soaked kingdom, if only for a moment, will unleash a spring of joy inside us that wants to gush out. 

But notice what the spring of joy caused the man in the story to do. He sold everything to get the treasure. Kingdom joy propelled him into constructive action. He wasn’t content to just see and believe in the treasure. Instead, he traded his entire life to receive it. This is a kingdom-powered, practice-based life. This is what it means to swim in the Eternal Current. The treasure is pure gift for all who are delighted enough to reorient their lives in order to swim in this new reality. 

Would you say your faith feels like a burden to you today or an invitation?