A 31-year-old treasure hunt has just come to an end. Evidently, the hunt, which took place in France and was called “On the Trail of the Golden Owl,” was based on a book of riddles published in 1993. Participants were required to solve 11 puzzles from the book and the 12^th one that was hidden.

CNN reports that the prize at the end of the hunt was an owl made of gold and silver worth $165,000. According to the hunt’s official website, the book of puzzles created a following of more than 200,000 players, known as “owlers,” from France and abroad.

To look for an owl for three decades. Some would say that takes some level of insanity. I would likely agree. Giving oneself so completely, doggedly, and passionately in pursuing something like a golden owl seems ludicrous. To most rational folk, like you and me, it is a comical, absurd waste of time and resources.

But not all “owls” are so obvious, are they?

Some of the “owls” we chase are shaped like our careers growth, our calling as moms or dads, our hunt for fame, a drive for a certain position or level of influence, the race for money, or the accumulation of stuff. Not all of those are “bad” pursuits. They can be good things. But when the good thing consumes us, when it becomes our source of significance, when the absence of it makes us antsy and empty within, when it blurs the image of God, when it takes too much space in our minds and hearts, then it is likely turning into our very own version of the owl in the treasure hunt.

The enemy tries to camouflage the absurdity of our pursuits. After all, most of us good Christian people are not digging holes in fields looking for golden owls. We are smarter than that. We would never stoop down to chasing down mere trinkets.

But can we look under the surface of our pursuits? What lies beneath our ambitions?

Chasing down the promotion seems completely rational and logical in your career trajectory—till you experience that burnout because you bought into the lie that your worth lies in your work.

Growing your online influence seems like the only way forward in a social-media-driven world—till you see how temporary the audience, how fleeting the fame, and how empty the praise.

Being the best and most super-organized mom seems like the right thing to do—till you realize that your identity is not defined by your actions, however loving and sacrificial they may be.

The enemy has packaged all our pursuits to make them seem important and necessary and right. And many of them are. Till they supersede and eclipse our pursuit of God.

As Christ-followers we are to fix our eyes on Jesus. We are called to pursue Him first.

The story of the treasure hunt on CNN reminded me of another story from Scripture. Jesus told the story of a man who discovered a hidden treasure in a field (Matthew 13: 44). When he found it, he hid it again, sold everything he had, and bought that field.

Unless the treasure was extremely valuable (worth way more than all he possessed), the man’s business acumen was somewhat poor. But the treasure was not just extremely valuable—it was of infinite, undefinable worth. Because the treasure represents Jesus and the gift of salvation,

Once we have discovered this Beautiful, Indescribable Treasure and experienced the free gift of eternal life, everything else fades by comparison.

The CNN article reports that the winners of the Golden Owl treasure hunt sent a message on social media saying, “Stop digging… We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night… It is therefore useless to go digging.”

Maybe that’s relevant to us too. Trying to unearth our joy, our purpose, and our significance in anything but Jesus is pretty much useless. We have found the Greatest Treasure for which the greatest price was paid at the Cross. It’s time to give our all to chase down this Treasure who gave His all for us. It’s time to stop digging.

 

 

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