Pearl of Great Price

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 

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

Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46

Do any of you collect things? Maybe someone collects stamps or coins. They have a huge collection of rare or unusual stamps or coins displayed in a case at home. It is a big passion for them and they enjoy doing it. But say for example they find the absolute rarest, most incredible stamp or coin in the world and they would extremely like to get it. However, they have a problem: they don’t have the ability to purchase it right now, because of the lack of funds. So they decide to sell the whole of their collection in order to purchase that one rarest thing of all.

I know some people who like to buy, sell and trade things. They will start out buying something smaller and cheaper like an older fishing boat, and then they will take that and trade it for something else, maybe a four wheeler and a trailer. They will then take that four wheeler and trailer and sell or trade that towards something else, until they get to a point to where they have several items which altogether is worth far more than the boat they started with. What they do then is they find something really good and sell all of those things that they aquired through trading or selling and buy one brand new thing. 

The kingdom of Heaven is that rarest treasure. It is the most spectacular, incredible find that anyone could ever attain. But to attain that treasure, a person needs to do something, and that is forsake the ways of the world and turn from their sins. They need to cast off all of the works of darkness and turn to the Light.

The Apostle Paul knew this very well. As a Pharisee, he spent his time growing in the knowledge of the Law.

“For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 

And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” Galatians 1:13-14

But once he realized the truth about Jesus, he turned away from all of his accomplishments he had done as a Pharisee. He wrote in Philippians that he counted them all “but dung.” They weren’t important anymore. He gave it all up so that he could have Christ.

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”

The things in the world are only temporary. They last for a short time and then they break or fade away. The world itself is aging and will eventually fade away and be destroyed. But there is something that will not: and that is the kingdom of Heaven. Heaven is a perfect place, free of sin and immorality. We know that we are only here for a short time, waiting until that day that we are redeemed and taken up to be with the Lord. 

This treasure and pearl of great price is available to everyone. All one needs to do is forsake the world and its deeds and come and accept Christ. Go get that pearl!

In Christ,

Andrew