The Pearl of High Value

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it." - Matthew 13:45,46

I was recently listening to a woman relate her experience ministering to drug addicts in Hong Kong. One of the things that her experiences have impressed upon me is the simplicity of the good news.

As one of Jehovah's Witnesses the common practice was to give people a head full of knowledge over the course of a year or two of Bible study and then have them pass a three-session Bible quiz before allowing them to become a part of the Christian congregation.

But this is not the case in Hong Kong where these drug addicts come to Christ quickly and things happen more along the lines of the Ethiopian eunuch that we read about in the Acts.

What I found interesting was that she said even after they come to Christ they still do not try to pump their heads full of knowledge. They leave room for the Spirit to work and lead them gently to the Truth. So as the addicts detox over the next few days they only read to them accounts from the Gospels of Jesus' parables and miracles.

She related something interesting about Matthew 13:45,46. She said that when they read that parable she always asks these spiritual babes who is "the man who sold everything" and what is "the pearl of high value". She relates that 100% of the time the men reply that Jesus is the man that sold everything and the pearl of high value is us.

Perhaps you've always heard it the other way around; but I can't discount the purity of their interpretation. That is that Jesus gave up everything, including his life, so as to pay the price to buy us; because he sees us as a beautiful pearl.

The other day we were talking about the value of Bible scholars; but, I'll take one homeless, illiterate, drug addict with the holy spirit to one hundred Bible scholars any day.

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children." - Matthew 11:25