It was quite blustery yesterday as we walked through Boston Common with friends from Sweden. Stopping to retie my shoe we noticed a lovely pearl and silver earring on the path. Not being Vincent Van Gogh one earring would not be sufficient for me. We left it perhaps with the hope the owner would retrace her steps and recover the treasure. As we walked on I wondered was it a pearl of great price?
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13. Just about everything I have ever read about this story tells us Jesus was teaching us that eternal life is so valuable we must not hesitate to sacrifice all to be sure it is ours. I have never been totally comfortable with that. There is way too much focus on us and our labor. Therefore, I find another meaning that seems so much more in harmony with the Gospel. We are the lost ones. And God, the great lover and pursuer of sinners, sees us as the pearl. He was the one who made the great sacrifice. He is the one who will not let us go. He is the one constantly moving silently among people in search of ones who will respond to His wooing.
I look in the mirror and ask “How can it be?” Everything I see is withering away. Where is this value He sees? Those are questions I need not answer. All we need to do is be thankful and accept. Go and look in a mirror and repeat after me. “I am a pearl of great price.” Oh what jewels He has!
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 31, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org