What we value most determines our life. It determines everything. Typically, most folks value family, friends, spouse, success, and nice possessions.
And typically most folks value their opinion, their influence, their comfort, their pursuits, and their strengths.
For Christians, somewhere in these lists would be God, a church, prayer, Scripture, songs, and church family.
The fifth and sixth parables (Matthew 13:44-46) teach that the Kingdom of Heaven is the highest value. It teaches it by saying everything else gets sold off to attain the Kingdom of heaven.
Most Christians would say God is first, but their actions and their thoughts and their affections would say differently.
The fifth and sixth parables are the hardest of the parables. Take family example. The man looking for pearls sells everything. This is what Jesus teaches in Matthew 10:24-39, especially verse 37. That is a very hard truth. But it is a needed truth!
The point is NOT sacrifice, but desire. The man finds a treasure that is a greater treasure than anything and everything. He so desires it that in his JOY he sells everything.
He gets it right. God is a greater and better and more joyous desire than family. Why? Because God is the giver of families. He is the provider for families. And ALL the joys we get from family comes from God. Without God, there would be no joy in family. Without God we would not have a family. All good things come from God. See James 1:17 and John 3:27.
Of all our joys, God is the most satisfying and thrilling and calming and reliable. See Psalm 16:11.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 