Daily Verse

Pearl of Great Price – Day Two

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Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:46

Yesterday our sister from Seeking Divine Perspective, mentioned that in the Pearl of Great Price story, Jesus is the pearl, but in the previous parable about treasure in the field, we are the treasure that Christ purchased. That was such a great insight, because Jesus gave up His life for His bride, the church.

But returning to our story, let’s look into the specific business decisions that this pearl buyer needed to take. Like an Elon Musk or a Jeff Bezos, he was no shrinking violet. He showed himself willing to risk an enormous investment in what he believed, and to do it immediately! He knew that just finding the pearl of great price didn’t give him any advantage, in fact he may have worried that others would have seen it and already be in the process of trying to buy it. So, he looked over his inventory and immediately sold everything to raise the capital he needed. Jesus shows us that God’s kingdom operates on that same principal. We not only have to choose what to sell and what to buy, but we need to move with urgency. The true Gospel is a message that will cut us to the heart and make us cry out, “What must we do to be saved?!” In the pearl merchant’s case, he needed to decide if selling all his pearls to buy just one was worth the price and then he needed to act on that decision right away. He recognized this as the opportunity of a lifetime and took action, because he believed that this one special pearl would still be of even greatest value!

Finally the pearl of great price became his. He brought it home, no longer as a prize to be pursued but as a possession to be treasured. Jesus wants us to know that the kingdom of heaven can be ours by faith! Faith is our own decision. No one can force us or choose it for us. If we will just see Jesus Christ is that greatest pearl, then no other pearl will hold our hearts.

Jesus Christ is the pearl of heaven, and everything we could ever have pales in comparison to knowing him. Though God’s gift is freely given by grace and nothing that we have could purchase it, following Jesus will mean leaving everything behind just to know Him, and having Him as the treasure of our hearts means that just as we will belong to Him so for all eternity, He will belong to us!

Pearl of Greatest Price

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 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls Matthew 13:45

 When I was a contractor, I had always been both intrigued and drawn to this story. While there are many different kinds of businesses, at the end of the day, the main point is to make a profit. But Jesus doesn’t tell us this story as some sort of training in business, He is pointing out that in our spiritual life we could learn a lot from this merchant, and that this pearl buyer had some values that Jesus wanted us to consider.

The first thing Jesus says is that the merchant was seeking beautiful pearls. His customers were not at all interested in the more common or flawed pearls that anyone could easily find. So, then for all of us comes the uncomfortable question: are we looking for second best in spiritual things? Are we just willing to settle for whatever is easiest? The old saying, “You get what you pay for,” is true in both this world as well as in God’s kingdom. In Christ we have an inheritance whose value is greater than we can imagine. Why would we sell out for lesser things, when we can find in Him the pearl of Greatest Price?

Rejoice!

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Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

The greatest divisions in the church do not usually come from disagreements over doctrine, forms of worship or liturgy. No! The biggest problem most of us face is learning how to get along with the person sitting right next to us in the pew! Though we often think of the early church as being a perfect model of Christian love and fellowship, the Corinthian church in the Apostle Paul’s day was more like us than you might imagine. Their issues included some of the members suing each other, sexual scandals and angrily arguing over who was the best apostle. I wonder if on some days, the Apostle Paul felt like pulling out his hair when he got news of the latest struggle. Maybe the line spoken by Professor Digory in the book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis, would have been something Paul would have loved to shout:

“You’re a family!! You might just start acting like one.”

So as Paul closes his letter to these Christians, he lays out a list of practical guidelines for living as God’s family. Today we will just look at the first:

Rejoice – Not just rejoice, as if we won the lottery, got a promotion, or received an unexpected income tax refund. This is a rejoicing together. Think of the joy of planning a surprise birthday party for a friend together. We orchestrate events so that our friend walks into a dark room without the slightest idea of what is going on, then someone flicks on the light, and everyone shouts, “Surprise!” If we can’t think of the last time that we shared that kind of joy in church, then we are missing out on God’s best for us. Now, to pull off a lifestyle of rejoicing, it will take a group effort, but just as the children in the Narnia stories learned to be a family through their struggles, and adventures, we can also learn to be the kinds of brothers and sisters that Jesus intended. Remember, how after he washed His disciples’ feet, Jesus told them that they would have joy if they learned to do the same. Do you know anybody with dirty feet today? It might not seem like it, but finding a way to wash them is the first step to a joyful life together!