What a Baseball Card Teaches us About Heaven
A while back I purchased a stack of replica 1909 T206 Honus Wagner tobacco baseball cards to use as bookmarks. These remind me of something very important and mark the pages of just about every book that I am currently reading. The Wagner card has been described as “The Mona Lisa of baseball cards” and the original version of this card has a story that would rival any of Aesop's fables… but this story is true.
To start, this card has been owed by people like hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky, and Ken Kendrick, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In addition to its celebrity ownership, an example of this card sold for $6.6 million in August 2021, making it the most expensive sports card ever sold. All of that makes the story pretty remarkable. However, what caught my attention was where one of these cards was discovered. In an Ohio attic, amongst the old wooden rafters, still covered in the original knob and tube wires, was a stack of baseball cards wrapped in twine and placed in a box. The homeowner had no idea that the cards were there… they just stumbled upon them. They did nothing to deserve the treasure they found but they got to reap 100% of its benefits. It’s an incredible treasure to find, but not as amazing as the treasure written about in Matthew chapter 13.
In Matthew’s gospel, we read about what are referred to as kingdom parables. One parable references a treasure found in a field, and the other a valuable pearl that a merchant stumbles upon. In both of these parables, the treasure and pearl represent heaven. And, like the homeowner who discovered the Wagner card, both the field worker and the merchant did absolutely nothing to deserve the treasure they found. Not only that, but just like the Ohio family, they got to reap 100% of the benefits that came from being the rightful owners of these treasures. And, the same treasure that the field worker and merchant found is offered to us!
If we have put our trust in Jesus, if we have confessed with our mouth and believed in our heart that Jesus is Lord, we are offered the free gift of salvation. Like the Ohio family, and like the field worker and merchant, we have done nothing to deserve this treasure and we get to enjoy 100% of its benefits. This means that every promise that is found in the Bible is a promise that we can claim as our own. So, when the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 15 that the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace when you trust in Him… peace, hope, and joy, they are not out of your reach. When the prophet Isaiah tells God’s people to fear not, because God is with you, when he says that God will strengthen you and help you, this is a promise that can be your own. When we are told in Philippians to not be anxious about anything, then freedom from anxiety must be possible.
God's Word, the Bible, is filled with promises from our Creator, and He is faithful to fulfill all of them to those who trust in Him. And, the great news is, it’s a free gift! It doesn’t matter what your past looks like, today is a new day. God has revealed a treasure to you, and when you accept it, as its rightful owner, you get to reap 100% of its benefits.