THE digger arrived. The usual inhabitants of the field are sheep. Today there were no sheep, just a digger. What, I wondered, would happen next? Nothing for a while, the digger was waiting for a truck. When both were in place the job began. In part of the field, there is still plenty left for the sheep; the digger started to remove the grass and the top layer of soil and put it in the truck. This went on for a few days until that section of the field was clear and levelled off.

It reminded me of a story Jesus told about a man and a field. This man found treasure in a field. We’re not told how he found it - whether he was an ancient metal detectorist, without a metal detector, or just idly walking through, when something caught his eye. We are told he was very excited about his find - so much so that he went and sold all he had in order to buy the field. He had been prudent enough to rebury the treasure before he did that. What was so precious that the man was prepared to give everything to get hold of it? We don’t know.

Jesus’ point was that finding and keeping the Kingdom of Heaven is as exciting as finding treasure we must have. The Kingdom of Heaven is where Jesus is, and finding it is discovering Jesus alive, in our lives. That is worth digging for.

The Rev Pauline West, Hawkshead Hill Baptist Church