Finding the Pearl of Great Price
Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a merchant searching for fine pearls who gladly gave everything for one of great value. The image of a pearl reminds us that life’s irritations can clarify what matters most and point us toward the surpassing worth of knowing and following Christ.
- Jesus used pearls to illustrate both great value and the importance of wise choices.
- Life continually calls us to choose not only between good and bad, but between good and better.
- Knowing and following Christ is worth more than anything else we possess or pursue.
By David Faust
It all begins with a grain of sand.
A foreign substance slips inside an oyster shell, and the oyster reacts by covering up the irritant to protect itself. A pearl results when the grain of sand is covered with layers of a substance called nacre, the same material used to create the shell. Pearls come in different colors and shapes. Some occur naturally; some are nudged along by pearl harvesters who insert irritants into the oyster shell; but all of them illustrate how something painful and irritating can lead to something beautiful.
Pearls of Great Value
Ornamental pearls were highly valued in the ancient world. The apostle Paul reminded Christian women that true beauty doesn’t come from “elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,” but from “good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (1 Timothy 2:9-10, New International Version). In its picture of heaven, the book of Revelation notes that the 12 gates of the Holy City “were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl” (Revelation 21:21).
Jesus’ listeners must have smiled when he said, “Do not throw your pearls to pigs” (Matthew 7:6). Why would anyone cast a lovely string of pearls before smelly swine that will trample the pearls into the mud?
Another time Jesus said, “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). R. C. Foster wrote that Jesus’ story about the pearl of great price “sets before us the important nature of our choices in life. If all we had to do was to choose between good and bad, it would not be so difficult. But we must constantly choose between good and better. At times these decisions are supremely difficult. … The pearl fancier knew and loved pearls. … But he knew there must be somewhere a pearl above all others in value. … He would have the best, even if it cost everything else he possessed.”
Worth More Than Anything Else
Football coach Tony Dungy led the Indianapolis Colts to victory in the 2007 Super Bowl. In his book Quiet Strength, Dungy wrote, “I love coaching football, and winning a Super Bowl was a goal I’ve had for a long time. But it has never been my purpose in life. My purpose in life is simply to glory God.” His life’s goal is summarized in Matthew 16:26, which asks, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
To know and follow Christ is the pearl of great price, worth more than anything else. Thank the Lord for the grains of sand—those pesky but necessary irritants—that remind us where the real treasures are found.
Note: This article first appeared in The Lookout magazine on May 25, 2008. Hundreds more articles David Faust has written over the last 30 years, searchable by topic and Scripture text, are available at www.DaveFaustWrites.com.
Author: David Faust
David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of Not Too Old: Turning Your Later Years into Greater Years.
