[Jesus 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. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46
Treasure
Discovering a hidden treasure is a common dream. Wouldn’t it be great to instantly be wealthy beyond anything you could have imagined?
In the first story of today’s Bible reading, Jesus tells us about someone who, finds buried treasure. In ancient times, rich people were known to divide their wealth into three parts: one for doing business, another converted to precious stones with which to flee, and, if necessary, a third part to be buried in a safe place. So, it could happen that when a rich man died, his buried wealth would remain to be found by some fortunate individual.
In the second brief story, Jesus speaks of a pearl merchant whose life’s mission was to seek out exceptional pearls and obtain them.
Some tirelessly seek treasure, and others just fortunately find it. But the most valuable treasure is that which Jesus has for us. This treasure Jesus tells us is the “kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom is Jesus’ rule in our hearts by faith. When Jesus rules our hearts, when our faith is in him, then we have the treasure of the forgiveness of sins, spiritual life, and eternal salvation—we will enjoy the glories of heaven forever.
Still, we don’t have to wait to enjoy this precious treasure. With faith in Jesus comes the peace of knowing we are God’s dear children right now, the hope of present certainty for a blessed future, and the joy of knowing God loves us today, tomorrow, and always.
So, whether you stumble upon earthly treasure or spend your life seeking after it, what really matters is that you have the treasure of Jesus. It’s worth giving up everything to make it your own.
Prayer:
Lord, lead us to the treasure that is Jesus and help us to treasure that treasure above all things. Amen.
[Jesus 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 Treasure
A man by the name of Edward Doheny [pronounced Doh-HEE-nee] has just arrived in California. The year is 1892. Doheny is a drifter. He’s worked as a mule driver, a fruit packer, and even a singing waiter. But nothing has panned out. His financial future looks grim.
One day, you’re walking through town and see a strange thing. You see Doheny digging a hole with a pick and a shovel. Turns out he’s put down all the money he can on some vacant lot just so he can dig there. You roll your eyes. You think to yourself, “I guess desperate drifters do desperate things.” You keep walking.
But desperate drifter Edward Doheny knows something you do not know. He spotted a black, thick goo seeping up into this vacant lot. He also has a hunch that people will soon pay money for this thick goo. He’s right. Here, on this lot, he strikes oil. He sets up his first oil well—the first of many. As a result, Edward Doheny becomes one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Jesus tells a similar story: A man finds a hidden treasure in a field. When he does, he sells all he has to buy that field. Think about that for a moment. Imagine what his friends and neighbors are thinking. Imagine how silly and foolish they presume he is—how skewed and confused his priorities appear. But he knows something they do not know. He knows about the treasure.
Which brings us to your life and mine. The culture around us may often smirk at us in polite contempt. In a society where pleasure, money, recognition, entertainment, and power are the stuff of life, the priorities of a Christian often seem quaint, clueless, even stupid.
But we know something others do not yet know. We know about the treasure. We know about Jesus. We know about the priceless riches of forgiveness, peace, purpose, security, and meaning we possess in him. In addition, we know this treasure lasts not only for this life; it is eternal.
Prayer:
Jesus, priceless treasure, keep me close to you. Amen.
…so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:19
Truly Life
For decades, Peggy Lee was a fixture in American pop culture. Called “The Queen of American Pop Music,” she performed on stage, on television, and in the movies. For example, you can hear her voice and her songs all through the Disney classic, “Lady and the Tramp.”
For all the joy she brought, however, perhaps her most memorable song is one that is not joyful at all. In 1969, she recorded a song entitled “Is That All There Is?” In it, a woman reflects on past events in her life, from the loss of her childhood home to going to the circus with her father, and her first romantic love. After each event, she asks herself, “Is that all there is?” She knows that something is missing, but she doesn’t know what. And as she looks to the end of her life, she’s convinced that, in her final moments, she’ll ask the same question: “Is that all there is?”
The song earned Peggy Lee a Grammy Award. It also reached the top of the charts. Clearly, the song had struck a nerve. It still does today.
In the closing sentences of the apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he reminds us not to look to the things of this world. Don’t look to the things of this world for security, for fulfillment, for meaning, for identity. Not only are the things of this world uncertain; even if they surround us until the day we die, they offer nothing that lasts. In the end, all we will have is the question, “Is that all there is?”
Enter our Creator. Enter God the Son. Enter Jesus. On our behalf, our Savior did what he had to do to rescue us from an empty, pointless existence. His perfect life and death in our place pulled us out of our darkness and back into his light. For now, in him, not only do we bask in his forgiveness; in him, we are once again what he created us to be. We are in the family of God. And because we are, we now have the life that is truly life.
Prayer:
Lord, in you alone I possess the life that is truly life. Thank you. Amen.
Tornado damages WELS church and school Around noon on Monday, July 27, a tornado ripped through northeastern Wisconsin, causing severe damage to Bethel, Menasha, a bilingual WELS church with about 500 members. The tornado also damaged […]
»
Youth rally emphasizes serving as Christ’s ambassadors WELS youth groups—both large and small—from across the US and Canada traveled to Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, for the 2026 WELS Youth Rally July 14–17. More than […]
»
Martin Luther College faces licensure challenge Throughout June 2026, Martin Luther College (MLC) shared information regarding the status of the licensure eligibility for all of its education programs as a result of review by the Minnesota […]
»
Endowment gifts open doors for gospel outreach This July, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) Legacy Endowment Fund and Rakow Endowment Fund provided approximately $20,000 to support the First Public Service Assistance project. Managed by WELS Foundation, […]
»
WELS welcomes new director of communications Mr. Dan Nommensen, who had been serving as the synod’s director of communications, recently accepted a call to serve as a Christian giving counselor for WELS Ministry of Christian Giving. […]
1 Woe to [1] you who are complacent in Zion, you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you distinguished people of the leading nation, to whom the house of Israel comes. 2 Travel to Kalneh and look. Go from there to Hamath Rabbah, and go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than those kingdoms? Are their territories greater than your territory? [2] 3 You who are trying to put off the evil day, you bring near the session for violence! 4 Those who lie on ivory beds, sprawling upon their couches, eating lambs from the flock and calves straight from the stall, 5 improvising tunes on the lyre, composing music for themselves on musical instruments like David, 6 drinking large bowls of wine— they slather [3] themselves with the most expensive perfumed oils, but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 7 That is why they will go into exile as the first of the exiles. Those who sprawl out at their feasts for the dead will depart.
Certain Destruction for Proud Israel
8 The Lord God swears by himself, declares the Lord, the God of Armies: I detest the pride of Jacob, and I hate his citadels, so I will hand over the city and everything in it.
9 If ten men happen to survive in one house, they will die. 10 When a relative who burns the bodies [4] comes to take away the bones from the house, he will say to whoever remains in the recesses of the house, “Is there anyone else still with you?” And they will say, “No one.” And he will say, “Silence! For you must not invoke the name of the Lord!” [5]
11 Look, the Lord is indeed giving a command, and he will smash the largest house into fragments and the smallest house into splinters.
12 Do horses run on a rocky cliff? Does anyone plow the sea with an ox? [6] Yet you turn justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. 13 You are rejoicing over Lo Debar. You are saying, “Was it not by our strength that we captured Karnaim for ourselves?” 14 Indeed, I am about to raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel, declares the Lord, the God of Armies. They will oppress you from Lebo Hamath to the Canyon of the Arabah. [7]
Footnotes
Amos 6:1 Or how terrible it will be for
Amos 6:2 The line of thought is difficult to follow here. The context seems to require that the two lines of the verse be parallel statements, each of which requires the answer “no.” The context therefore seems to call for reversing the second comparison, but there is no manuscript evidence to support such a switch.
Amos 6:6 Literally anoint, but the reference is not to anointing to office.
Amos 6:10 Or who prepares bodies for burial
Amos 6:10 Verses 9 and 10 are difficult. Translations vary greatly.
Amos 6:12 The translation follows a re-division of a word of the Hebrew text. The main Hebrew text reads does one plow with oxen, a reading which calls for the answer “yes,” but which does not fit the context. Another solution is to repeat the object rocky cliff from the first half of the verse: does one plow a rocky cliff with oxen?
Amos 6:14 Lebo Hamath is far to the north in Syria. The Arabah is the rift between the mountains of Edom and the mountains of Sinai, south of Israel.
1 Listen to this word that I am raising against you as a lament, [1] O house of Israel:
2 Virgin Israel has fallen, and she will not rise again. She is abandoned on her own soil. There is no one to lift her up. 3 For this is what the Lord God says: A city that marches out with a thousand will have a hundred left. A city that marches out with a hundred will have ten left for the house of Israel.
Seek the Lord and Live!
4 Listen, this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live! 5 But do not seek Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal. Do not travel to Beersheba, because Gilgal surely will go into exile, and Bethel will become nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will rush upon the house of Joseph like fire. The fire will consume, and no one will extinguish it for Bethel.
7 There are some who turn justice into wormwood, [2] who throw righteousness to the ground.
8 There is one who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the shadow of death into morning, who darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the seas, who pours them out upon the face of the earth— the Lord is his name. 9 He causes destruction to flash against a stronghold, and destruction comes upon a fortress.
10 There are those who hate an arbitrator [3] in the city gate. [4] They despise anyone who speaks honestly. 11 That is why you trample on the poor, and you collect taxes on their grain. You have built houses of cut stones, but you will not live in them. You have planted choice vineyards, but you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know that your rebellious deeds are many, and your sins are numerous, you who are enemies of a righteous man, you who take bribes. They thrust away needy people in the city gate. 13 That is why a prudent man will be silent in that time, because it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live, and then it will be like this for you: The Lord, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you claim. 15 Hate evil and love good. Establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says, the God of Armies, who is the Lord: In the city squares there will be grief, and in the streets they will say, “Woe, woe!” They will summon the farmer to mourn and the professional mourners to sing laments. 17 In all the vineyards there will be grief, because I will pass through your midst, says the Lord.
The Day of the Lord Brings Darkness
18 Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord! What good will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light. 19 It will be as if a man flees from a lion, but a bear meets him, or he enters a house and rests his hand on a wall, but a snake bites him. 20 Will not the Day of the Lord be darkness and not light, gloom without a trace of brightness?
The Lord Hates Faithless Worship
21 I hate, I reject, your festivals! I do not delight in the aroma of the sacrifices at your sacred convocations. 22 Even if you offer up to me your whole burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will not pay any attention to your fellowship offerings of fattened calves. 23 Get the noise of your songs away from me! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 But let justice roll like the waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 You lifted up images of Sakkuth, your king, and of Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves. [5] 27 So I will exile you beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of Armies.
Footnotes
Amos 5:1 Or sad song
Amos 5:7 Wormwood is a toxic, bitter-tasting substance (absinthe).
Amos 5:10 Or a mediator
Amos 5:10 The city gate served as the courthouse.
Amos 5:26 The form and meaning of several of the terms and names referring to gods in verse 26 are uncertain. The terms seem to refer to astral deities, most likely including Saturn.
1 People of Israel, listen to this word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, concerning the entire family of clans that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
2 You alone have I chosen [1] from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will inflict punishment on you for all your guilt. 3 Can two people walk together without agreeing to do so? 4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it does not have prey? Does a young lion growl from its den if it has not caught anything? 5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground when nothing has tripped it? 6 If a ram’s horn is sounded in a city, the people become alarmed, don’t they? If a disaster takes place in a city, is it not the Lord who has done it? 7 Certainly the Lord God does not do anything without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared! Who can avoid being terrified? The Lord God has spoken! Who can hold back from prophesying?
Judgment Against Samaria
9 Make this known to the citadels in Ashdod and to the citadels in the land of Egypt. Tell them, “Gather yourselves together on the mountains of Samaria. See the great confusion [2] there and the oppression in her midst.” 10 They do not know how to do what is right, declares the Lord. They are storing up violence and destruction in their citadels. 11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: An enemy is all over the land. He will strip your strength from you, and your citadels will be plundered. 12 This is what the Lord says: Just as a shepherd rescues two legs or a tip of an ear from the mouth of a lion, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be rescued with only a corner of a bed or a piece of cloth [3] from a couch.
13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord God, the God of Armies. 14 Indeed, on the day when I punish the rebellious deeds of Israel, I will punish the altars of Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground. 15 I will strike the winter house along with the summer house. The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed, and the great houses will come to an end, declares the Lord.
Amos 4
1 Listen to this, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, you women who are oppressing the poor, who are crushing the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more drinks!” 2 The Lord God swears by his holiness: The days are surely coming against you, when they will drag you away with hooks, every last one of you with fishhooks. 3 You will go out through the broken-down walls. Each woman will go straight ahead, and you will be thrown out [4] toward Harmon, [5] declares the Lord.
4 Go to Bethel and rebel. Rebel even more at Gilgal. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every third day. 5 Burn some leavened bread as a thank offering, and proclaim voluntary offerings—announce them! For you love to do this, you people of Israel, says the Lord God.
Warnings Produce No Repentance
6 I am the one who gave to you clean teeth [6] in all of your cities, and lack of food in all your places, but you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
7 I am the one who withheld the rain from you while there were still three months before the harvest. I would send rain on one city, but on another city I would not send rain. One plot of ground would receive rain, but another plot, on which it did not rain, would dry up. 8 Whenever people from two or three cities staggered to another city to get water to drink, they would not have enough, but you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
9 I struck you with blight and mildew. Your many gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees were devoured by locusts, but you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
10 I sent plagues against you like the plagues in Egypt. I killed your best soldiers with the sword, together with your captured horses. I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils, but you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
11 I overthrew some of you, just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like a burning stick snatched from the fire, but you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
12 Therefore, this is what I will do to you, Israel. Yes, this is what I will do to you: Prepare to meet your God, O Israel! 13 Indeed, he who forms mountains and who creates wind, who declares his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn into darkness, and who treads down the high places of the earth, the Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.
Footnotes
Amos 3:2 Literally known
Amos 3:9 Or turmoil
Amos 3:12 The meaning of this word is uncertain.
Amos 4:3 In the Hebrew text the verb is active, you will throw. The translation follows the Greek text.
Amos 4:3 The meaning of the word Harmon is uncertain. It may be a place name or mean something like garbage dump.
Amos 4:6 A striking description of people who have no food to chew
1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders [1] from Tekoa. He saw a vision concerning Israel during the days of Uzziah king of Judah and during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said: The Lord roars from Zion. From Jerusalem he sends out his voice. The pastures of the shepherds dry up, [2] and the top of Mount Carmel withers.
Judgment Against Aram
3 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins [3] of Damascus, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they cut up Gilead with iron threshing boards. [4] 4 So I will send fire against the house of Hazael, and it will consume the fortresses of Ben Hadad. 5 I will break the bars of the gates of Damascus, and I will cut off the one seated in the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds a scepter in Beth Eden. [5] So the people of Aram will go into exile toward Kir. [6] The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Philistia
6 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of Gaza, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they sold an entire population into exile, handing them over to Edom. 7 So I will send fire against the city wall of Gaza, and it will consume her citadels. 8 I will cut off the one seated in Ashdod, and the one who holds a scepter in Ashkelon. I will also turn my hand against Ekron, and what is left of the Philistines will perish. The Lord God has spoken.
Judgment Against Canaan
9 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of Tyre, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they delivered over an entire population and exiled them to Edom, and they did not remember a treaty of brotherhood. 10 So I will send fire against the city wall of Tyre, and it will consume her citadels.
Judgment Against Edom
11 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of Edom, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because he [7] pursued his brother with a sword, and he had no compassion. [8] His anger kept tearing Israel apart, and his fury raged without stopping. 12 So I will send fire against Teman, and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
Judgment Against Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of the Ammonites, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their own territory. 14 So I will ignite a fire against the city wall of Rabbah, and it will consume her citadels with a battle cry on the day of war, with a strong wind on the day of the storm. 15 Then their king will go into exile, he and his officials together. The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Moab
Amos 2
1 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of Moab, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they burned the bones of the king of Edom to make lime. 2 So I will send fire against Moab, and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die in an uproar, with a battle cry, with a blast of a ram’s horn. 3 I will cut off the judge [9] from her midst, and I will kill all her officials with him. The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Judah
4 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of Judah, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they rejected the law of the Lord, and they did not keep his statutes. Their lying idols led them astray, the idols that their fathers followed. 5 So I will send fire against Judah, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.
Judgment Against Israel
6 This is what the Lord says: Because of three sins of Israel, because of four, I will not hold back judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and they turn aside the claims of the oppressed. A man and his father go to the same young woman. In this way they profane my holy name. 8 They stretch themselves out beside every altar on pieces of clothing they seized as collateral. In the temple of their gods they drink wine obtained through fines.
9 I was the one who destroyed the Amorites in front of them, the Amorites, who were as tall as cedars, who were as strong as oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below. 10 I myself brought you up from the land of Egypt, and I led you in the wilderness for forty years, so that you would take possession of the land of the Amorites. 11 I raised up some of your sons to be prophets, and some of your best young men to be Nazirites. Is this not so, you people of Israel? declares the Lord. 12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and you commanded the prophets, “You must not prophesy!”
13 Look, I am weighed down under you, just as a cart is weighed down when it is loaded with sheaves of grain. [10] 14 There will be no escape for the swift runner. The powerful man will not be able to exert his strength, and the strong warrior will not be able to save his own life. 15 The archer will not stand his ground. The swift runner will not save himself, and the horseman will not save his own life. 16 The most courageous among the warriors will flee naked on that day, declares the Lord.
Footnotes
Amos 1:1 Or ranchers
Amos 1:2 Or mourn
Amos 1:3 Or crimes
Amos 1:3 A threshing board or threshing sledge is similar to a toboggan, but it has iron teeth protruding from the bottom. It is dragged over piles of grain to cut up the straw and release the kernels of grain.
Amos 1:5 Valley of Aven and Beth Eden mean Valley of Wickedness and House of Pleasure. They may be figurative names for the region around Damascus.
Amos 1:5 The location of Kir is unknown. It probably lies far to the north or east.
Amos 1:11 Edom is referred to by the singular he because it is also a name of Jacob’s brother Esau.
Amos 1:11 Or he destroyed pregnant women
Amos 2:3 Or ruler
Amos 2:13 The meaning of the verse is uncertain. It may mean I will weigh you down as a cart is weighed down.
17 Three days later, Paul called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Gentlemen, brothers, although I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem to the Romans. 18 After they interrogated me, they wanted to release me, because there were no grounds for the death penalty in my case. 19 But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—not that I had any charge to bring against my own people. 20 That is why I asked to see you and speak to you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
21 They said to him, “We have not received any letters about you from Judea, and none of the brothers who came here has reported or said anything evil about you. 22 But we would like to hear from you what you think, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”
23 They set a day to meet with Paul, and even more of them came to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and testified about the kingdom of God. He also tried to convince them about Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others continued in their unbelief.
25 They were arguing with one another and began to leave after Paul made this one statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your [1] fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
26 Go to this people and say, You will keep hearing and yet never understand; you will keep seeing and yet never perceive. 27 For the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. [2]
28 “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation from God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” [3]
30 For two whole years Paul stayed in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to visit him. 31 He was preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without anyone stopping him.
Footnotes
Acts 28:25 Some of the witnesses to the text read our.
Acts 28:27 Isaiah 6:9-10
Acts 28:28 A few witnesses to the text add 29 After he spoke these words, the Jews departed, while having a long debate among themselves.
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Around noon on Monday, July 27, a tornado ripped through northeastern Wisconsin, causing severe damage to Bethel, Menasha, a bilingual WELS church with about 500 members. The tornado also damaged […]
WELS youth groups—both large and small—from across the US and Canada traveled to Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, for the 2026 WELS Youth Rally July 14–17. More than […]
Throughout June 2026, Martin Luther College (MLC) shared information regarding the status of the licensure eligibility for all of its education programs as a result of review by the Minnesota […]
This July, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) Legacy Endowment Fund and Rakow Endowment Fund provided approximately $20,000 to support the First Public Service Assistance project. Managed by WELS Foundation, […]
Mr. Dan Nommensen, who had been serving as the synod’s director of communications, recently accepted a call to serve as a Christian giving counselor for WELS Ministry of Christian Giving. […]