Exodus 19

A Peculiar Treasure

Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me. Exodus 19:5.

Nowadays when we call a thing “peculiar” we generally mean that it is unusual or odd. But the older meaning of peculiar is particular, very special. So instead of speaking of a “peculiar” treasure, we might say a “very special” treasure.

I wonder what your treasures are? Most boys and girls have treasures. Many boys carry theirs in their pockets, and a wonderful collection they are! If you asked one of these treasure-keepers to turn out his pockets you would probably find something like this half a dozen marbles, a bit of string, a water-pistol, a pen-knife, a few nuts and a handkerchief that once was white.

Some boys and girls make collections of shells and seaweeds when they go to the seaside. Others collect wild-flowers and press them. I knew one boy who started a museum of his own which he filled with all sorts of unusual things. Many of you count your books or your toys treasures.

But among your treasures there is probably something which you value above all the rest. It is your very special treasure. Perhaps it is a three-bladed knife, or a favorite doll, or a particular book. If you are very small it may be a golliwog or a teddy-bear. Perhaps it is a live thing a canary, or a kitten, or a dog, or a rabbit. Whatever it is, you love it more than all the rest of your possessions, and you would part with anything rather than with it.

I once knew a little girl whose special treasure was a doll. When she was hardly three she found it one day on the links of a seaside resort. Rain had come on suddenly, and she was being hurried home when she saw the poor old doll lying neglected on the ground. Perhaps some other child had dropped it in running for shelter; perhaps some baby had thrown it out of its stroller. In any case, dolly's owner could not be found, and the little girl was allowed to keep it.

It was a very plain-looking dolly. Its eyes had once been blue and its cheeks red, but most of the paint had been washed or scratched off. It had once possessed a squeak, but the squeak had vanished. It was dressed in homely fashion in a red crochet dress and a red crochet bonnet.

The little girl had other dolls china beauties with silky flaxen hair and lovely clothes. One was a bride doll, another a real sailor-boy. But of all her children she loved the rubber baby best. Other dolls came and went, but through the years she remained faithful to it. She is quite grown up now, but still she has a tender spot in her heart for the rubber dolly.

Your fathers and mothers have their treasures too.

Perhaps jour mother has some pretty dresses and some beautiful jewels. You have seen her wear them when she was going to a party, and you may have thought that these were her special treasures. But if you had asked her, I think she would have smiled. For what do you think mother's special treasures are? Just her boys and girls!

And our Heavenly Father has His “peculiar” treasures too. What are God's very special treasures? Perhaps one of you guesses “the stars.” You go out on a clear night and see them sparkling in the sky like thousands of jewels. They look so beautiful that you think God must value them very much. Yes, but there is something more precious in God's sight than the stars.

Somebody else guesses “the sun.” He looks so big and glorious. Well, there is something God values more than the sun.

Then you remember the flowers. You think of their beautiful colors, and their sweet perfumes, and you try to imagine what the world would be like without them. Yes, certainly, of all that He has made, God must love these most. But you are wrong again. There is something God loves better than the flowers.

Do you give it up? Well, God's very special treasures are boys and girls and men and women. All the world is His, and the sun and the moon and the stars, but more than all these things He loves the children whom He has created. They are so dear to Him that He sent His only Son into the world to die for them.

But they can't be really and truly His treasures unless they give themselves to Him. Wise men tell us that the Hebrew word translated “a peculiar treasure” really means a treasure or possession that is specially one ' s own. There are some things that you share with others, there are other things that are specially your own your own little bit of garden, your own little bedroom, your very own books and toys.

And God wants you to be “specially His own.” His great loving Father-heart is aching and longing to have your love. You belong to Him by right and He could claim you and take you by force. But such a possession would be of little value to Him because He knows that in your heart you would not be really His. So He leaves you free to choose.

Boys and girls, God's love is calling to you all and yearning after you. Will you come of your own accord and say: “Dear God, I want to be specially your own. Take me and keep me and love me for ever and ever”?

And He will do it.