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Valued Pearls - Matthew 13
Valued Pearls - Matthew 13
Matthew 13 records the two-verse parable of the pearl of great value. Reading this always makes me think of Antiques Roadshow. I enjoy watching this even though I am reminded of the ‘trash’ that I have thrown away that is NOW considered valuable. You don’t have to watch too many episodes before they show someone who finds a rare painting or another object at a garage sale for a couple of dollars. The object is still the same, but NOW people put a different value on it.
You must ‘devalue’ somethings in order to hold these other things as valuable. There is often a time of inconvenience as we hold on to those things we value the most. Many times, after being told that the object they brought to the show was extremely valuable in money, people smile and say, ‘It isn’t for sale’. Others retort that ‘it is as good as gone’. Some things are just junk.
What such a person values is immediately and readily apparent to all! We can’t hide where our real values are, they are displayed daily. They are displayed by how we treat them. Some give places of honor to fake art pieces. Others serve popcorn out of an expensive 2500-year-old Chinese bowl.
Thus, we can learn that value is not necessarily ‘worth’. In the eternal scope of things, often things of no eternal value are highly valued while the truly valuable is despised.
What do YOU value highly? What are the costly pearls in your life? Your spouse? Time with your children? Your health? Your brethren? Jesus? Money? Popularity? Power? Your life?
Each day we show our values, what things are displayed as valuable by you?
Hugh DeLong
