It's Hiding in Plain Sight

As a child I knew where Mom hid our Christmas and birthday gifts. I also knew that I was not supposed to look there. One year I snuck around to discover the toy John Deere tractor that I had been hoping for. I was wrong, for I did it in direct disobedience to my parents.
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Now as a parent myself, I face the challenge of keeping the gifts a secret from my little boys. Leading up to Christmas, I had not noticed that Crystal had taken out the new pair of boots to wrap when I got our little guy up from his nap. He was definitely excited about them but had to wait a while to open them. He was definitely pleased with them and now after Christmas he runs around the house with them on.
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Hiding gifts from a little boy is one thing, but hiding them from their mother is another. I have actually started a little game with her by hiding her gifts in plain sight. A few years ago we moved right before her birthday, so I knew it would be difficult to hide her gift through the move since she was actively involved with the packing. I solved the problem by placing her gift in the trunk of the car with some other items so that she could easily see it if she just looked. That way there was nothing suspicious about it.
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I had some more fun this year for our anniversary. I had bought some candy for her while on a trip and hid it under the front seat of the van. She did not mean to find it but as she was unloading the van, wondered what that bag was doing under the seat and discovered her candy a bit early. Of course, I still wanted to surprise here so I got another box and this one was a solid color with a stripe down the middle, so I placed it on the book shelf among the other books. On our anniversary, I called her into the office and told her to get a book from the shelf so that she would finally find it. She was surprised because she had looked at that shelf many times without seeing her box of candy.
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What a reminder that we can have something so close and so accessible and still miss it. The teaching of Christ is a lot like that. It is right there in front of us if we would only look to our Bibles, but even many that do end up missing it’s truth. Matthew 11:25 shows us that the truth is so simple a child can understand it, yet many miss it: “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”
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So how could something that is right in front of a wise and prudent man be missed? Could it be that they really don’t want to see it? The Apostle Paul shows us that the gospel is hid to many because they are lost. In other words, they don’t understand what Christ has taught and what He has done in paying for their sins because they have rejected Him as their Lord and Savior. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
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The point is, you cannot expect the scriptures to make sense if you have rejected the God of the Bible. The treasures are hid in plain sight if you will but believe in Christ alone as your Lord and Savior. “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3)