The Pearl of Great Price

Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, 

went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

{ Matthew 13:46 }

Christ told a parable of a merchant man who was searching for pearls to buy.  He sought in all the most popular stalls of the marketplace. When he found finally one pearl which was especially rare, the price he was required to pay for it meant little to him.  He was willing to lose all the other things which were valuable to him in order to obtain it.  The purpose of this parable was to express the inequable value of the Gospel, but more specifically the object of it, the Lord Jesus Christ, and our personal relationship to Him.

When salvation is weighed against every other thing which man could value, he finds that everything but Christ is empty and vain.  Possessions, worldly esteem, wisdom, religion--nothing earthly could ever secure the soul’s eternity in Heaven.  Nothing can compare to a personal relationship with Christ through salvation.  When a lost soul completely realizes his need for the Pearl of great price--when he sees that righteous self as well as sinful self is completely worthless, he is willing to part with everything he possesses to receive Him.  He is willing to give everything he holds dear to know Christ, but he at last finds that this Pearl is bought “without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1).  The price that must be paid for this Pearl is no less than trusting in Christ’s finished work, and that alone.

For the child of God, too, nothing of this world can take the place of a close, abiding relationship with the Lord.  However, all too often we seek the things of the world above the things of Christ.  We set our affections on things of the earth rather than on things above. We will never find anything on this earth to completely fulfill and satisfy the desires of the heart apart from Jesus, the Pearl of great price. What the soul seeks for will not be found in the world. It can only be found in deep and lasting, blessed fellowship with the dear Savior... and in doing His most perfect will.

And ye shall seek me, 

and find me, 

when ye shall search for me 

with all your heart.  

{ Jeremiah 29:13 }

If I Gained the World by Anna Olander

If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Were my life worth living for a day?
Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort
In the things that soon must pass away?
If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Would my gain be worth the lifelong strife?
Are all earthly pleasures worth comparing
For a moment with a Christ-filled life?

Had I wealth and love in fullest measure,
And a name revered both far and near,
Yet no hope beyond, no harbor waiting,
Where my storm-tossed vessel I could steer;
If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Who endured the cross and died for me,
Could then all the world afford a refuge,
Whither, in my anguish, I might flee?

O what emptiness!--without the Savior
’Mid the sins and sorrows here below!
And eternity, how dark without Him!
Only night and tears and endless woe!
What, though I might live without the Savior,
When I come to die, how would it be?
O to face the valley’s gloom without Him!
And without Him all eternity!

O the joy of having all in Jesus!
What a balm the broken heart to heal!
Ne’er a sin so great, but He’ll forgive it,
Nor a sorrow that He does not feel!
If I have but Jesus, only Jesus,
Nothing else in all the world beside--
O then everything is mine in Jesus;
For my needs and more He will provide.