The Pearl of Great Price

“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 13:45-46 KJV)

I have come to treasure these Parables that Jesus gave us in the 13th chapter of Matthew: It seems that every time we read over these parables, the Lord is willing to teach us something about His Kingdom. I read the parable of the “Pearl of Great Price” yesterday, and The Lord impressed on my mind a thought that I’d like to share!

Here, we have a merchant man who has went on a journey seeking goodly pearls, but one day he stumbles across One Pearl of Great Price, and when he stopped at that One Pearl, he was willing to sell all he had to buy it! Mind you, Jesus was speaking in regards to His Kingdom! I cannot help but think of how powerful this parable is to us today! We are all on a journey, and we’re all seeking the goodly pearls of life. Many people will spend their entire life searching to find goodly pearls, but will never find that One Pearl that quenches their thirty soul. It’s a sad reality, but one that happens all too often. In a spiritual sense, the world searches for goodly pearls in a plethora of follies this world offers them, yet the reason they will always search is because they failed to find The One Pearl, Jesus Christ! They fail to realize, their longing to be filled in the depths of their soul, can only be quenched with Living water! These jars of clay we live in were created to be filled with the Spirit of God Almighty, and until the desolate soul acknowledges that truth, they will die empty! The world doesn’t need mass globalization to combat the woes on earth, they need the Pearl of Great Price, JESUS CHRIST!

Now, I’d like to switch gears for a moment and share what the Lord impressed on me yesterday! Think about this, It is possible, for people of God, those who say, “I am A Christian’, those who have been born again of the water and of the Spirit, to live their life having never truly found that, One Pearl of Great Price! It is possible to be born again, yet never truly converted!!! I am convinced the Great Pearl for the Saint of God is AN EXPERIENCE IN GOD! It’s a Place we find ourselves in, when we can truly Only Long for Jesus! Let me explain myself here: I’ve seen time after time, those who give their life to God, always live on the borders, always staying on the shore of comfort, and always doing “just enough”! The problem with this frame of mind is, they will still be like that merchant searching for goodly pearls. They spend their life on the comfort shores of Christianity, yet walk through the world still searching for those “pearls!” The end result to always searching is failing to find that ONE PEARL to where you’re willing to SELL ALL, FORSAKE ALL for the sake of His Kingdom! Jesus knew this concept, because He said, If any man come after me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross daily, and follow me! In other words, you must find the ONE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, and forsake all else! We see this tragic reality in the rich young ruler: 

Here is a man considered to be a “Christian” in our terms, and scripture said he had kept the statutes of God from a youth. Yet, something I wish to point out is, the rich young ruler said, “what lack I yet?” Think about this, he followed the statutes of God, had great possessions, one could say he was living a blessed life, yet he felt something was missing in his life! Even though he had much of what the world offered him, there was a longing void in his soul, and he asked Jesus how to fill it. Jesus struck straight to the heart, and told him to sell that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven. What a grandest of opportunity this young man had, yet he walked away sorrowful because he wasn’t willing to reach out and grab ahold of that ONE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE! Such a tragedy, but we too can find ourself in his shoes when we continue to search in the world for goodly pearls, and never reach out for that One thing that quenches the thirsty soul! 

We think just because we go to Church, and have good works, that we have found that Pearl of Great price, yet we’re not willing to truly forsake all to follow after him. The tangibles of this world has sunk its teeth into us, and we’ve found ourselves still searching for those “goodly pearls!” We all know deep within us, those things we still seek after, that prevent us from truly launching out into the Depths of God Almighty to where we can honestly say, “JUST GIVE ME JESUS!” Can we truly say our souls pant after the riches of God, like a deer pants after the water brook? Can we say in honesty, I forsake all oh Lord, All I want to know is You! Saint of God, the Lord is coming soon, and we’ve went too long searching for those goodly pearls, that take the place of The burning Zeal in our souls to find God. We’ve become too comfortable with knowing the Omnipresence of God, that we’ve forgotten about the daily need for The Manifestation of His Presence: there is a difference! We all must find that experience our thirsty soul is longing for, nothing else will suffice, but Oh To taste and see that the Lord is good, Oh to launch into the depths of His majesty, where we can truly forsake all! This is the place I want to be! This is the experience I want to have! This is the Pearl of Great Price I want to find! May the Lord’s goodness and mercy beckon you, to launch into the depths of His riches as of never before!

I end with an excerpt from AW Tozer, in his book, “The Pursuit of God!” 

“Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus’ Name Amen.”

God Bless, JDS