Jesus lived a simple life – but that did not make him a simple person. He was an itinerant preacher who traveled from village to village. So far as we know he had no home that he owned. He was not married. He had no children. He probably had little in the way of clothing or personal effects. He certainly wasn’t paying on a student loan, mortgage or consumer debt.
His words and teachings reflect the simplicity of Jesus’ life:
- Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Luke 9:58).
- Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. (Matthew 6:19)
- Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink . . . . Look at the birds . . . consider the lilies . . . will (God) not much more clothe you? (Matthew 6:25ff)
Monday I went for a well mapped out bike ride on a beautiful Fall day. Everything was going as planned. Taking the back roads I was free of traffic and made it to my lunch break destination with time to enjoy the scenery. Then, after lunch, about a mile into the rest of my route, I came across a detour. Whereas I had planned to turn right, cross a bridge and continue back road riding as I meandered home; my right turn was blocked by a “road closed – detour” sign complete with barrier across said bridge.
In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus shares twin word pictures to describe the value of the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven). We might call these particular parables “value images” as Jesus tells us that living “a kingdom of God way of life” is like a tenet farmer finding a treasure hidden in a field, or a merchant discovering a pearl of great price. In each situation the finder of these objects is so overtaken by them that he sells all he owns in order to have them. It’s this “all in” behavior that gives me pause with the parables, causing me to ask, “What do we so value in life that makes us willing to cash in everything else?” 
