DEVOTION
Precious Pearls
By Cathy Irvin
Staff Writer
CBN.com
-- I had never really liked pearls, yet I changed my mind when I came across a set of earrings and necklace that I liked so much that I bought them for my wedding.
The other day I looked for my wedding pearls because I thought that my daughter might like to wear them for her upcoming wedding this year, since she needs something old, borrowed, and blue.
I remembered that I had just ordered pearl jewelry for myself, and thought about how I had changed over the years. I don’t know how or when I changed in my taste for different styles and color choices, but somewhere along the line it happened.
In my reflection of these pearls, my mind wandered to the story of how a pearl is made. A tiny sandstone finds its way under an oyster shell, and it is so irritating to the oyster that it works on the stone, and eventually one day this sandstone becomes a beautiful, smooth, shiny pearl.
Pearls are costly to mankind, and it takes so many to make just one necklace. It's no wonder that the real ones are really expensive. They are certainly priceless and precious to the one who finds them.
After pondering these things, I immediately went on a search through my mother’s old jewelry that I had inherited, and was glad to find that I had kept her strand of real pearls. I just sat and looked at them for quite a while.
Jesus tells us in the Bible of the parable of a merchant looking for fine pearls, and how this is similar to finding the Kingdom of Heaven. When you find the Kingdom of Heaven, your salvation is like a precious pearl! There is nothing more valuable than security for your soul. Just as in the parable when the merchant found just one pearl, he sold all he had to purchase it.
Likewise, when you discover the Kingdom, it is worth everything you have to give up because you gain eternity with the Lord, the Creator of your soul, and without Him you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
I have now been able to see pearls in a different light, and can appreciate their value. They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but since pearls are mentioned in the Bible, and because Jesus thought it very important to teach a lesson through pearls in His parable, “The Pearl of Great Price,” I have become rather fond of them.
Oh how precious is a pearl. It reminds me of how precious a soul is to God!
Matthew 13:45-46 says,
"Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls, who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it." (Amp.)
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