The pearl trader parable I posted a couple weeks ago holds a lot of meaning to me, so I’d like explain it. It’s not some sort of imaginary version of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13. It’s my personal testimony, written in the voice of such a pearl trader.
The pearls I’m speaking of here, are all kinds of good things God has to offer. I was around some of those good things from the day I was born. I was raised in a God-fearing Christian home. My parents were saved, loved the Lord, and held the Bible to be the standard for life. We had “family devotions”, reading the Word, and praying together as a family. Up until I was in 8th grade, we didn’t have a TV, so I read a lot… books, encyclopedias, and the Bible. I saw things in that Bible that fascinated me, and stirred me, and set a hook in my heart. Of all the dreams and aspirations I had, even as a kid, my #1 was to be like Jesus… wondering if it was even possible. Lots of pearls, and I thank God for them all.
But all the pearls I handled seemed to have flaws of some sort. They just didn’t match up to what I saw in the Bible. I had questions for my pastors that they couldn’t answer. It was kind of like they were saying the pearl I was seeking didn’t exist in real life. I checked out various denominations. Nothing there either. So I tried the world’s pearls for a few years. Cheap imitations! Still I believed deep down in my heart that the real thing really did exist. If I came around someone who claimed to have a genuine pearl, I put them to the test. Sometimes, to put it mildly, I wasn’t very nice. I was a persecutor. Armed with my knowledge of scripture, I could cut them down. But I really didn’t want them to fall. I wanted them to stand, and prove to me that what I had read in the Bible was true. I was searching for that pearl.
Then I encountered Spirit-filled Christians, and heard of a move of God’s Spirit in this day and time… speaking in tongues, divine healing, miracles, overcoming the devil… like the Bible days. I was thrilled. I ditched the fake pearls, and started snapping up these new ones. I found people who believed, just like the Bible said, that believers could walk in the steps of Jesus, and do the works that He did, and greater!
Then more pearls! …a wonderful, beautiful wife. Six precious kids. Friends on every side. Respect. Security. Peace. Comfort. Health. And above all, the assurance of eternal life. …What people all say are the “things that really matter”. Really nice pearls! I really felt like I had done pretty well in my 50+ years.
Still . . . . . . . In those quiet, honest times alone… letting the Word of God speak to me, I knew that I was still missing something. There had to be a pearl out there somewhere that was even beyond anything I had ever seen. So I asked, and I sought, and I knocked, and I studied, and I prayed, and fasted, and cried out to the Lord. I knew I was getting closer, but still hadn’t found that pearl. Then one day as I was driving to work, and pouring out my heart, the Lord spoke to me, “If I show you, will you DO it?”
DO It? Do WHAT? Before He would show me, I had to promise to DO it?? …without even knowing WHAT He would ask me to do???? God was asking me to pay a price, and He wouldn’t even tell me what the price was? It really shook me up. I prayed. I cried. I protested. “God, how can you expect me to count the cost, if you won’t even tell me what the cost is?” I didn’t understand at that moment, that when Jesus said, “Count the cost”, it was not to determine the price of something, but to see if you “had sufficient”. The answer is very simple. “NO!” No calculation necessary. No matter what I had to offer, it would not be sufficient to buy that pearl. He was just saying that I had to sell EVERYTHING! Whatever that meant!
Now I can see, that all the pearls that I had traded over the years, I had bought and sold for MY profit. Yes, I had made a very nice profit. God had blessed! But even in seeking God’s promises and blessings, the underlying focus had been on myself, and what I would profit. If I did this, or that, God would bless me. Even significant sacrifices of time, labor, and money, were made with the expectation of some kind of personal reward. Sometimes for earthly rewards, or the favor of men. Sometimes for eternal rewards, and the favor of God. But now, ALL that had to change. This was completely different. I had to be willing to give to Him, unconditionally, everything I had, including everything He Himself had already given me, in order to have that pearl that I was seeking!
There are a lot of things that could be called a “pearl of great price”… eternal life, of course… or a revelation of God’s Word; or an abiding presence of the Spirit of God; or a joyful, victorious, abundant life. At that point in my life, the pearl I sought was simply to know, direct from God Himself, exactly how He saw me. The good and the bad, the right and the wrong. I was so tired of judging my standing with God, based on circumstances in my life, or what people were saying to me, or about me. If God would just show me personally, how He saw me, it would be worth any cost.
What God has in store for us is always SO far beyond anything we can ask or think! That day, I said “Yes” to Him, and “sold everything”. What He opened up is way, way beyond what I was seeking. Still, it’s not a one-time thing. Yesterday’s total surrender is not enough for today. God will continue to reveal more. I fully expect, that though my commitment is renewed every day, there will come another day, that He will ask me to sell everything in a way that I can’t see now, for another, even more magnificent pearl that is still locked up in His safe, somewhere deep in His heart. But it’s not a matter of price, anymore. Passion has taken hold of me! It’s all about unquenchable LOVE!
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3 [KJV]. This life eternal is about more than length of time. There’s like an “eternal” depth to KNOWING our God, our Father, our Saviour. THAT is a pearl I’m willing to pay ANY price for!
Recent Comments