MCLEODS, New Brunswick, May 17, 2024 – The parable of the pearl of great price tends to be overlooked in the rush to comb through Revelation looking for parallels to what’s happening in the world today. In fact, most of the Gospel tends to be overlooked in favour of Revelation. Certainly, Revelation is important, but so is “every word that comes from the mouth of God”, as Jesus famously schooled Satan. I’m not saying you’re Satan; I’m just saying.

If we took Jesus at his word (which we should do) and spent less time on Revelation and more time on the rest of the Gospel (which we should also do), we’d realize how pivotal the parables are, in particular the parable of the pearl of great price. As a refresher, I’ve copied it below:

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.

Scripture foretells of one to come who will “open [his] mouth in parables [and] utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world”. This “one” we now know as Jesus, our Lord and Messiah, and also our big brother and best friend. Any one of those roles sets him apart as someone we should heed when he speaks, in parables or otherwise.

But do we heed him?

The pearl parable isn’t shrouded in mystery. We know it’s talking about God’s Kingdom because it says so right from the get-go, and we know the kingdom of heaven is alikened to the pearl of great price, again because it says so. What else does the parable say? That we should sell everything we have and invest all the proceeds – not some of them, ALL of them – in the kingdom of heaven. This parable doesn’t require us to go into a private huddle with Jesus to learn what it means, like the disciples did when Jesus taught them the parable of the sower. No, the parable of the pearl of great price is as open and straightforward as it gets.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) allegedly said about scripture: “It ain’t the part of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it’s the parts that I do understand.” Well, Sammy, most of us (if we’re honest with ourselves) are right there with you. The parts of the Bible that we do understand are the parts that God has brought to our attention and opened our hearts and minds to, which means we’re not only meant to “get” them, we’re meant to heed them.

From that perspective, let’s look again at the parable of the pearl of great price, and let’s make it personal:

Have you found the kingdom of heaven? Yes or no?

And if “yes”, have you set its value as being higher than anything else in your life? Yes or no?

And if “yes”, have you thrown caution to the wind and all your eggs into one basket and sold everything you have to “buy” the kingdom? This again requires only a simple yes or no answer. You either did or you didn’t; you either gave everything to God and Jesus, or you didn’t.

FYI – “I’m thinking about doing it” is a “no”.

FFYI – “I’m thinking really really hard about doing it and will likely probably maybe do it soon” is also a “no”.

Did you know that no “no’s” will get into Heaven? There are several parables in the Gospel about people who say “no” to God and Jesus only to find themselves shut out of Paradise forever. All their assumptions and good intentions came to nothing.

Here is my prayer for you today: If you haven’t yet said “yes” to all the above, I pray that you’ll follow through and heed the words of the pearl parable here and now. There is nothing more important or more valuable on Earth than the kingdom of heaven, and eternity is a long time to regret not having done what you knew you should have done when it was brought to your attention in plain words.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,

and everything you need will be given to you.