The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field,

which a man found and hid again;

and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

and upon finding one pearl of great value,

he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:44-46

A few clicks on the internet brings to light some startling statistics. Did you know that depression is one of the most common forms of disability in the United States? One website describes depression as characterized by protracted feelings of sadness and hopelessness that can affect one’s sleeping and eating habits, social and work life, and daily activities. Symptoms of depression include a loss of interest in things that used to be enjoyable, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and thoughts of death or suicide.¹

Millions of people suffer from chronic and debilitating depression, anxiety, fear, and insecurity. Did you know that depression is statistically highest among 18-25-year-olds? What is wrong in our world, that when a young person who is beginning the most exciting part of their lives is bound up in depression?

The antidote is joy, but how do we obtain it?

The world knows how important it is to seek joy in our daily lives, but popular, human-centric psychology offers little help. Their answer is to focus inwardly, to discover our deepest desires and do all that we can to meet them. One website offers this advice: By shedding what’s no longer serving you and consciously adopting what uplifts and expands you, you can begin to build a life filled with joy.

Did you catch that? Shed what no longer serves YOU. In other words, make life all about you, and you’ll find joy.

The Bible offers a different solution, and indeed, the only solution that provides true joy that will last for eternity. Jesus gave us two word-pictures that reveal the cost of finding joy as He compared the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field and a pearl of great value.

The treasure and the pearl are Jesus – He is the pearl of great price, the treasure so valuable that a man will sell all he has to obtain Him. Jesus is showing us that we cannot have joy – we cannot have Him, nor access to all that faith in Him offers – unless we let go of everything else.

Joy is freely available, but it costs us everything.

In this passage, Jesus is describing the value of the kingdom of heaven. It surpasses anything that the merchant and the man may have built, achieved, accomplished, or possessed in their strength and wisdom. To have this great treasure, they had to reject all distracting and lesser pursuits and give up what they formerly thought was worthwhile.

We cannot experience the abundant joy that Jesus came to give us and hold on to the temporary pleasures and self-centered quests this world offers. As evidenced by the growing statistics on depression and suicide, they will never satisfy our souls.

The apostle Paul knew what it was to exchange his life for the kingdom life of joy and peace promised in the gospel. He was an accomplished Hebrew Pharisee, righteous and blameless in his own good works, yet he counted all of it as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:7-8).

Real joy only comes with a life focused wholly on following Christ. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, tossed about like the surf of the sea, and often carried away by false doctrine (James 1:6-7; Ephesians 4:14). No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth² (Matthew 6:24).

There are two kinds of misery that eliminate joy. The first is to reject Jesus entirely. The second is to believe in Him, but never surrender fully to Him but spend your life pursuing the world’s wisdom and pleasures instead of letting go of it all to obtain the greater treasure of the kingdom of heaven.

Do you want real joy? The only prescription you need is the spiritual anti-depressant of fully immersing yourself in the gospel. Stop holding on to this world with one hand and trying to grasp the joy of the Lord with the other. Instead, pay the price of a fully surrendered life. Dig deeply into the field of God’s Word. Set your mind and heart to seek and obey Him, and you will find the joy your Creator designed you to crave.

Philippians 3:7-8 – But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.

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¹https://www.statista.com/topics/4569/depression-in-the-us/#topicOverview

²Wealth is the Greek mamōnas, meaning confidence, treasure, that which is trusted in (mammon). More than just money, it signifies anything we put our trust in other than God.