Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Pearl of Great Price!


Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13.46). What Christ refers to in the parable, of course, is the Kingdom of God. And lest we confuse anyone - the Kingdom means everything – the triune God Himself and all the good that you and I could possibly desire (Matthew 6.33).

Aesop tells the following story. A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw. "Ho! ho!" quoth he, "that's for me," and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? "You may be a treasure," quoth Master Cock, "to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls." (The Cock and the Pearl)

Moral: Precious things are for those that can prize them.

In short, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7.6)

A fine pearl was an object of such great value that one might sell all one’s accumulated wealth to purchase it (Mt 13.45, 46), but a pearl, used figuratively for the Word of God, should not be cast before swine or roosters for that matter. (Mt 7.6).


enjoy, ron

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