The Pearl of Great Price

This will be pretty short post for a change, I have just been feeling convicted and want to record it, more for my own memory than anything else. God has been challenging me that I must never devalue the pearl of great price. This comes from the story Jesus told in Matthew of the man who found a pearl so great and so valuable that he gladly sold all he had to buy it. Jesus told His disciples that the pearl represented the Kingdom of Heaven, that they might seek it with such dedication.

Another similar parable Jesus told is of a man who found a treasure in a field. It was a secret and of such great worth that he also sold everything he owned to buy the field and own the treasure. If the Kingdom of Heaven is so valuable that I must sell all I have to gain it, then do I have the right attitude? Do I truly place such a high value on the Kingdom, in truth seeking it first and His righteousness, or do I give lip service to the greatness of His Kingdom while living as if it were a second class citizenship, second to the temporary world I enjoy too much to let it go? That is the challenge for me, I must hold my citizenship in Jesus Kingdom in such high regard that I forsake all else for it! Oh how hard it is to truly live this way in a world whose values are so contrary to Christ's.

I am to have a dream to strive for, but I must let go the American dream. The material dream of good things and safe life must be abandoned like daydreams of castles and fantasy realms; for the values we place on our comfortable life here are just as temporal and fleeting as such dreams in the face of reality. The reality of eternity will awaken every person one day with the question: Did you give your all to seek the treasure of the glory of the Kingdom of heaven? Did you value the pearl of great price?

God help me say yes!