| “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” |
| —Matthew 13:45-46 |
I think I’ll wear pearls today. One reason I will wear pearls today is because beloved First Lady Barbara Bush died this past week and she always wore an iconic strand of pearls. I will also wear pearls today because they remind me of the name given my Savior: “The Pearl of Great Price.”
Joni Eareckson Tada reminds us, in her book, Pearls of Great Price,1 that pearls are unique gems, not mined out of the earth, or made from rocks and crystals. Rather, pearls rise out of suffering.
A grain of sand sticks in the fleshy part of an oyster and creates an irritation. To this the oyster adds smooth milky layer after layer to cover the sand until the irritation becomes smooth and acceptable. Jesus, in suffering for us, became like a pearl, a priceless gem of great worth for which a wise person would be willing to trade everything.
Not only did Jesus show us the way to suffer, but He also showed us how He expects to make us beautiful in His time. He has embedded us in a world of troubles and suffering. He has embedded us in a culture that often sees us as an irritation. All of this becomes for Him a perfect environment to bring out the “pearl” in each of us. He will cover us with His shiny beauty for all the world to see.
Yes, I think I’ll wear pearls today. And, I will remind myself that all the irritation and struggles of the day will indeed bring forth His handiwork in my life.
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| 1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2006. Preface. |
