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Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Treasure (12/15/03)
TITLE: The Pearl of Great Price
By Hannah Newton
12/19/03
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“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 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 13:44-45. (NIV)
I like parables. I like the way Jesus could take a complex subject and make it easier to understand by turning it into a story his listeners could relate to.
But one parable that I never really liked, the one comparing salvation to a pearl of great price. In the parable, a merchant of fine pearls sells everything he has for the pearl that was more beautiful than any other. I just didn’t think that was a fair trade. What was the point of owning the most beautiful pearl in the world if you had just lost your job, your home and everything else of value? I liked the parable in the preceding verse much better.
There, salvation is described as treasure hidden in a field. A passerby saw it and then sold his possessions to buy that field. To me that made sense. It was like being told if you spend all your money on the lottery you will be guaranteed to win.
But the decision to accept Christ is not a business decision. I didn’t get saved because I thought I would “come out ahead on the deal.” I chose Jesus because in Him I saw beauty and perfection like no other and I wanted that. The merchant of fine pearls had spent his life in pursuit of that perfection, and when he found something that was more beautiful than anything he had seen before he knew he had to have it at any cost.
Salvation is still like selling all you have to buy a field where treaure is buried, but the value of the treasure isn’t in paying back what you lost to get it. The true value of the treasure is eternal. Salvation should just be the most important treasure in our lives, it should be the only treasure in our lives and the only thing we own that we can’t afford to lose.