A Goldrush!
I live in a city in South Africa called Boksburg. It was the 1880s when people started to come to this part of our country, and that’s because there was gold here.
A man named Eduard Bok registered the first claims of gold here on the farms that used to make up this area. And so “Boksburg” was born, and where there is treasure, you have a rush of people! In fact most of our province of Gauteng was a kind of gold-rush area – after all, Joburg is known as iGoli, right? The city of gold!
Our whole country of South Africa is actually a land of treasure. The town of Kimberly has its diamonds of course. And what about the Kruger Millions, do you know about them? At the beginning of the Boer war, Paul Kruger is said to have taken an estimated 1.5 million pounds out of the South African banks, to protect it from the enemies if things went wrong for the boers. Apparently, today the treasure would value $240 million.
Seeking Eternal Treasure
There are rumours today everywhere about these Kruger coins - a family in the town of Ermelo is said to have dug up 4000 of these coins on their farm, and has been selling them off since the 1960s. Other rumours say the money is cursed! That even if you do find it, you will be cursed. And some people are obsessed with this treasure, as this commenter online said: “Kruger Millions are so close to my heart. I hear them calling me when I sleep at night. I have seen visions and will act upon them.”
Treasure is all around us, it would seem. But notice what Jesus said in Matthew 13: “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.”
It turns out that iGoli (the city of Gold) is not Joburg. The true city of Gold, or Kingdom of Gold, is not a particular place on earth. It’s a spiritual kingdom. Where spiritual treasure is available for those who seek it!
Jesus also said “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Kingdom of True Riches
The kingdom of God should be the centre of the world’s goldrush! Where people everywhere seek real treasure, instead of the treasure that the world gives, which rusts and gets eaten and eventually turns into nothing.
And so if you’re after real riches, real treasure… Don’t come rushing to Boksburg. Or look for the Kruger millions.
Go rushing to Jesus! Because it’s in Him, and in the kingdom that he brought to earth, that true, lasting treasure lies.
