Why Knowing Jesus Is the Greatest Prize

What are you running toward in life? The Bible calls us to run in a way that wins the prize, but that raises an important question: what exactly is the prize? Understanding the answer changes everything about how we live, what we value, and where we place our hope.

What Does the Bible Say the Kingdom of Heaven Is Like?

In the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches extensively on the kingdom of heaven through parables. Two of these parables stand out when it comes to understanding what the prize truly is.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

In Matthew 13:44, Jesus says: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that He has and buys that field."

This treasure is so valuable that the man who finds it willingly lets go of everything else just to obtain it. The question worth sitting with is this: what kind of treasure is worth that kind of sacrifice?

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

Jesus follows this immediately in Matthew 13:45-46 with another picture: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when He had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

Here is a man who has spent his life searching for beauty. When he finally finds the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, he gives up everything else to have it. One thing. Just one.

What Is the Treasure That Cannot Be Stolen or Destroyed?

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus gives a clear instruction: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

This heavenly treasure cannot be something from this world. There is no way to carry earthly things into eternity. No bank account, no house, no achievement can be deposited into a heavenly vault. So the treasure being described must originate in heaven itself.

That changes everything about how we understand these parables.

Who Is the Bridegroom? Understanding the Parable of the Ten Virgins

In Matthew 25:1-12, Jesus brings the teaching to its fullest point. Ten virgins are waiting for the bridegroom. Five are wise and keep their lamps burning with oil. Five are foolish and let their oil run out. When the bridegroom finally arrives, the five who were ready go in with him to the wedding celebration. The door is shut. The five who were unprepared are left outside, and the bridegroom says: "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you."

Here, the treasure is no longer a thing. It is a person. The prize is the bridegroom himself, and throughout Scripture, that bridegroom is Jesus.

Jesus is the treasure hidden in the field. Jesus is the pearl of greatest beauty. Jesus is the one worth letting go of everything to obtain. He originated in heaven, came to earth, gave His life as a sacrifice and ransom, and returned to heaven having secured our freedom, redemption, and forgiveness. He is the treasure stored in heaven where nothing can spoil it, steal it, or diminish it.

What Does It Mean to Keep Your Lamp Burning?

The oil in the lamps of the wise virgins represents love for Jesus. It is a personal, ongoing love that cannot be borrowed or transferred from someone else. You cannot give your love for Jesus to another person. It has to come from you.

The good news is that this love is not something we have to manufacture on our own. As the Bible says, we love because He first loved us. God makes it possible. He loves us, and in response, we can love Him. But we do have to choose it.

The five foolish virgins had a window of opportunity. They missed it. That is a sobering picture of what it looks like to be near Jesus without truly knowing Him.

Is Doing Good Works Enough to Know Jesus?

In another passage in Matthew, Jesus addresses this directly: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but He who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you.'"

This is not a warning to unbelievers. It is a warning to people who have a profession of faith but have replaced intimacy with activity. Signs, wonders, and good works are not the oil that keeps the lamp burning. Knowing Jesus is.

Watchman Nee, the influential Chinese Christian leader, put it this way: "It matters not how much we know of methods or doctrine or power. What really matters is knowing the Son of God. Knowing God's Son is the way, knowing God's Son is the truth, and knowing God's Son is the life. Our power comes from knowing His Son. All that God gives us is His Son. Not a lot of things. Hence the whole question lies in knowing God's Son."

What Happens When Jesus Becomes Your Everything?

When Jesus is truly the treasure, everything else flows from that. Because Jesus loves people, those who love Jesus will love people. Because Jesus is the worker of miracles and signs and wonders, those who know Jesus will walk in that power. It is not a choice between knowing Jesus and doing good things. You choose Jesus, and Jesus does the rest.

There is a phrase worth holding onto: boredom in life is simply blindness to Jesus. When Jesus is your full gaze, there is always something more to discover. There are always deeper treasures in His Word, always more of His character to know, always fresh wonder in who He is. He is beginning to end in the Bible, and there is always something more.

How Do You Make Jesus Your Greatest Treasure?

This is not about giving up all your possessions or stripping your life bare. It is about where your treasure actually is. It is about whether your sense of worth comes from what you do or from being loved by Jesus. It is about whether the things in your life hold your heart, or whether Jesus does.

God extends an invitation to enter into a deeper love relationship with Jesus, one where He is everything, where He holds the gaze of your heart, and where everything else in life flows out of that place of knowing Him.

Life Application

This week, take an honest look at where your attention and affection actually go. Not where you think they should go, but where they actually go. What fills your thoughts in quiet moments? What do you reach for when life feels heavy or dull?

The challenge is simple but not easy: choose one daily habit this week that is purely about knowing Jesus. Not serving, not performing, not doing. Just being with Him. Read a passage of Scripture slowly and ask Him to speak. Sit in prayer without an agenda. Let your lamp stay lit.

Ask yourself these questions:

• If I am honest, what is the treasure I am actually running toward right now?
• Is my relationship with Jesus built on knowing Him, or on doing things for Him?
• What would it look like this week to let Jesus be enough?

Jesus is the prize. He is the treasure worth everything. And the door is open.