This past week, while checking out at the grocery store, a magazine cover caught my attention. It was an issue of a magazine published by the History Channel. The issue’s title read, “Finding Treasures of the Bible.” The cover further revealed some of these treasures: “Ruins of Noah’s Ark, Quest for the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, and the location of the Garden of Eden.”

I did not purchase a copy of this magazine. I didn’t even pick it up. I could tell from the cover that they couldn’t be more wrong about the “Treasures of the Bible.”

The treasures God has given us in the Bible are not any lost physical artifacts we can hope to discover. These intriguing items served their purpose and have long since disappeared.

The treasure of the Bible is the truth found in its message. As the Psalmist declares, “I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure” (Ps. 119:162).

Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Freedom from ignorance, error, and the wages of sin is the greatest treasure we will ever find. As our Lord asks, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26).

I don’t trust any magazine at the checkout stand to tell us what we really need to know about the Bible. The treasure of the Bible is the book itself. It needs to be read, understood, lived, and loved.