When my siblings and I were younger, my parents gifted us all a book called Acres of Diamonds for Christmas.
It tells the true story of a man who heard about people finding diamonds around the world. So he sold his land and embarked on a journey to find them. He spent his whole life searching. Then, as he approached his final days, he heard something that shook him to his core. The man who had bought his property was outside one day when he saw something strange in a stream running through the land. Upon further inspection, he realized it was shiny stones.
It turned out the land the original owner sold was one of the richest diamond mines ever discovered. He had acres of diamonds under his feet the entire time, and he’d spent his whole life searching for what he already had.
I believe many Christians live the same way—searching the world for a wealth God has already given us.
We see this in Ephesians 1:17-21. Paul wrote this letter to the church of Ephesus—a wealthy, influential city that served as a financial and commercial hub in the Roman Empire. The Ephesians had become obsessed with power, magic, and control, so Paul reminded them that what they had in Jesus was greater than any earthly wealth or power they could accumulate.
Paul writes in verses 17-19, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
This passage shows us how to discover all we have in Christ.
First, we must realize we already have it. Paul tells us we already have hope—confident expectation based on God’s promises, not our situations. We already have value—we matter deeply to God. We also already have power—through Jesus, we can do all He has called us to.
Second, we should understand this: we’ll discover our inheritance by illuminating, not accumulating. Like the man searching elsewhere for diamonds beneath his feet, we must use our energy to illuminate what God has given us rather than chase counterfeits. Verse 17 names some of these things we can illuminate: wisdom, revelation, and knowledge. As believers, our problem will never be supply; it will always be perspective.
Verses 19-21 goes on to remind us that there’s power behind every promise God has made us. Because that power is for us, we have everything we’ll ever need to walk in His blessing and His calling for our lives.
Friend, don’t spend your days chasing substitutes when you’ve already found the real thing. In Jesus is everything you need!
