Matthew 13:45-46 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.
Recently, a jeweler friend of ours sent us his beautiful interpretation of Jesus' parable of the pearl and we wanted to share it with you.
In Matthew 13, we see that a merchant sold all that he had to purchase a single pearl. But why, of all things, a pearl? As a jeweler, I would question the choice the Lord made -- choosing to leave the Father's side for a pearl instead of what I would think has much greater significance, the much coveted diamond. You may know that the diamond is graded in value according to the 4 C's, Cut, Color, Clarity & Carat-weight. The answer to my pondering was right there! The diamond receives a substantial portion of its value from the way a person cuts it -- the work of man's hand! Interestingly, the only natural gemstone that has more value when it is found than when men finish with it is the PEARL!
In the same way, we can add nothing to the work of Salvation! God has paid the price for us in full -- and a tremendous price it was. The God of glory, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords left all the splendor of Heaven to claim this pearl. And He gained it by paying a price that was far more precious than any of us could pay.
Sometimes we get so busy and we don't take time out consider this incredible work of God in our lives. He has bought us with a price. We are fully paid, fully ransomed, fully redeemed! We are the pearls of great desire! Let's walk in that victory today!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As we continue our study of the men who followed David, another characteristic was their ability to war.They learned how to battle with both the right hand and the left hand for hurling stones. If you have ever thrown a ball, you know that you can aim effectively with your dominant hand — but try it with the opposite hand — it’s far more difficult to throw accurately. But the men that followed David learned to throw with both arms effectively! It must have taken months of training to develop such skill.
When David was a fugitive from Saul, the men who followed him recognized his rightful place as King of Israel, and they developed a deep loyalty to him, this little band. As we read yesterday, these men were transformed from distress, debt, and discontentment [1 Sam. 22:1-2] into becoming mighty men of war. Having joined David, they quickly realized that they were joining a conflict.
Last night, Jewish people around the world will mourn Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar year. Some of you may know that a lot of bad things have happened to the Jewish people on this date, the first of which was when the spies returned with an evil report of Canaan, the Promised Land, recounted in Numbers 13 and 14. Both the first and the second Temple were destroyed on this exact date, hundreds of years apart. The Crusades began on this day in 1095. The Jews were expelled out of England on this day in 1290, and again were expelled from Spain and Portugal on Tisha B’Av in 1492. And there are many more examples of this infamous day in Jewish history!
An ancient legend tells of a king who walked into his garden one day to find almost everything withered and dying. After speaking to an oak near the gate, the king learned that he was troubled because he was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine overheard their conversation and added that she, too, was upset, for she could not bear delicious fruit like the pear tree. The pear tree heard his name and began to complain that he did not have the lovely odor of the spruce. And so it went throughout the entire garden.
In the midst of a serious heat wave, wildfires are spreading across Europe causing thousands to evacuate. This reminded me of a story I once read.
I can’t begin to tell you. So many people I’ve shared the Gospel with have answered, “Well — I don’t need that, I’m a good person.” No, we’re not. We have a tendency to compare ourselves with our neighbor, thinking how nice or how giving we are compared to him or her. But none of us are good by God’s standards. Our good works are like filthy rags, according to Isaiah.
If you look at the ant you will find that they dwell in colonies. Each colony consists of approximately 60,000 – 90,000 ants — they really can’t prosper on their own. They need each other. How does a colony of that many ants to work together? The only reason it works is that they operate in unity. Each ant shares the same purpose, the same goal, and the same aim.