One of my long-time favorite shows on television is The Antiques Roadshow. It is a show that has been a staple on PBS for many years and on British television for longer than that. The show affords people the opportunity to bring their antique possessions, whether furniture, paintings, toys or anything else, and have them appraised by some of the world’s foremost experts in antiquities. Every show the producers single out ten or fifteen items and show an expert providing a detailed description and valuation of the item. Each section closes with the expert telling the owner just what the item is worth. It is always fun to see eyes pop out or to see people jump up and down with excitement as they realize that they have in their possession an item worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Every episode we can see junk transformed to treasure.
I suppose my attraction to the show probably stems from my love for history (which I did, after all, spend my college-years studying). I often marvel at the knowledge the antique experts display as they describe the history of a piece of furniture, the man who made it, how much it cost 200 years ago and what it is worth today. I love to watch the expert’s excitement as they see items they know are rare and valuable. I stand in amazement not so much at what some of the items are worth but that people are actually willing to pay that price for some of them.
Last night I saw an episode that featured the most valuable item they have ever shown on The Antiques Roadshow (there was one item that was more valuable but the owner wished to remain anonymous). The story was wonderful.
An elderly gentleman from Tuscon, Arizona brought in an old blanket he had inherited several years before. He knew it was old and believed it had a little bit of value – perhaps a few hundred or even a couple of thousands of dollars. After inheriting it he threw it over the back of a rocking chair in his bedroom and had not often thought about it until presented with opportunity to take it to the Raodshow.
With the blanket hanging on a rack behind them, the expert appraiser told the old man that his heart had stopped when he first saw it. Watching the show I could see the excitement written all over the expert’s face and extending throughout his body, for he just could not stand still. He began to explain just what the blanket was. It was a Navajo chief’s blanket that had been woven in the 1840’s. Surviving in wonderful condition, it was one of the oldest intact Navajo weaves to survive to the twenty-first century, and certainly one of only a tiny handful to exist outside of museum collections. He showed the fine detail of the weaving and even showed where it had been torn and repaired shortly after it was first made. You could see the excitement in his eyes as he looked at something he knew was extremely valuable. He knew that sitting before him was more than a blanket – it was a rare national treasure of incredible value.
The appraiser seemed to have trouble even beginning to tell the audience just how important this blanket was. He left no doubt, though, when he told of its value. Because of its rarity and historical significance, he had no trouble assigning a value of somewhere between $350,000 and $500,000. Yes, this elderly gentleman had come to the show carrying a blanket worth almost a half million dollars. He simply could not believe what he was hearing. Choked up and with tears pouring from his eyes he asked to hear the amount again. I honestly thought he might just pass out then and there.
It is safe to say that the blanket the man cavalierly carried in with him was cradled carefully in his arms as he walked out. The blanket had not changed any – it was exactly the same blanket then as it was an hour before, yet something had changed. It was not the blanket, but the man who had changed. What he had seen as a blanket of no extraordinary value he now realized was an extremely rare and valuable national treasure. What he had in his arms was the envy of every Indian collector in the world and of the thousands of people watching the show. What he had liked before, he now loved and treasured.
I remember a day, not too long ago, when I sat in my little office reading my Bible. Now I have had many Bibles in my lifetime and have been reading the Word with some degree of faithfulness since I was just a child. I am sure I have read the entire thing several times through (except, probably, for some of those Minor Prophets!). On this particular morning I came across Hebrews 4 where I read the words “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” I had read those words many times, had heard people preach about them and had read books which sought to exposit them. But that morning, as I read those words, something stirred in my soul. It was as if an appraiser had stood beside me and told me just exactly what it was I was holding in my hands. I began to look up other similar passages – Psalm 119, 2 Timothy 4 and more. As I looked back down at my Bible, it was as if the book had been transformed from a blanket draped casually over my chair to one that was a national treasure. The book was the same, but suddenly I knew of its value. Chills ran down my spine as I appreciated for the first time what a treasure I have in the Bible.
The Bible has never been the same to me since that day. I have not been the same since that day. Rather than being just another book on a rather busy bookshelf, my Bible now stands out as a treasure. More than just words, the Bible is the very words of God! More than ink on a page, the Bible is alive and active. It contains exactly what God wants me to know about Him and about myself. It is the awesome, amazing, living revelation of an awesome, amazing, powerful God to His created beings.
That day, as I stood in awe of the blessing I have in this book, I asked God to continue to impress its value on me and He has been faithful in doing so. I do not presume to have a full understanding of the Bible’s importance and value, but I do believe I know far more than I did before. My love and respect for the Word continue to grow. The more I learn of the Word, the more I praise God for bestowing this treasure upon me and the more I stand in awe of His wisdom for revealing Himself to us in this way.
Just as millions of people have dusted off their antiques and hauled them to stadiums or arenas around North America to have them appraised by the experts, I would encourage you to dust off your Bible and ask the Appraiser to impress on you its worth. If you approach Him humbly and with a thirst for wisdom, He will show you the incredible worth of the treasure He has given you.
