A Pearl of Great Price or Broken Glass? – by Jeremy Barnes

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Imagine having the winning lottery ticket. The jackpot is worth over $100 million. Most of us would be beyond excited; we would be filled with joy.

Imagine this: instead of immediately cashing in your prize, you are gripped by fear. You think to yourself, “This is going to change my life. This is too great of a responsibility for me. Everyone in my life will treat me differently from now on.” You are cannot decide what to do. You go on living life and forget about your winning ticket. Eventually, the time to cash in your prize has passed.

Jesus tells a similar story in Matthew 13:44, but with a different outcome: One day a laborer is working in a field. As he is plowing through the field, he discovers a hidden treasure. A treasure that would change the direction of his life. He is so overcome by joy, that he can barely finish working; he cannot keep his mind off his discovery. He then goes and sells everything that he has so that he can buy that field and lay claim to this treasure.

Jesus reemphasizes this in the following verses:
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.

What is this Pearl of Great Price that Jesus is talking about? What is this treasure that causes someone to sell everything in order to obtain it? What causes the apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament and had plenty of reason to be proud of his accomplishments, to say “I consider everything a loss… I consider them garbage”?

Paul says this “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8) This is the Pearl of Great Price that Jesus is speaking of. Not just knowing about Him like you may know about Tom Brady or Lebron James. Paul knew plenty about God before he followed Christ. He now considers that all garbage in comparison to knowing the love that Jesus has for him. A love that he described as being beyond knowledge. In fact, Paul does not pray that we have the power to be better people, but instead prays that we have power to “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Jesus says to you and me: You are my friend (John 15:14). You do not just know about your friends. You live life with them. You go through seasons of life with them, through the good times and the bad times. You learn more about them as you live life with them. Friendships grow overtime.

This is the invitation Jesus has for all of us. I love that way Preston Morris describes living life with Jesus as an adventure ( Adventure at Home, by Preston Morris ). It is new and exciting every day.

One of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, describes the longing of Jesus to be your friend as “a furious love affair.” I believe we all have a desire deep within us that we try to satisfy. Instead of focusing our eyes on the Pearl of Great Price, we trade it for broken glass. We go through our life looking to fulfill this desire. Many things may give us temporary satisfaction and may even be good things, such as friends and sports. But Jesus did not come just so we can have a good life, but that we “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Even pop culture resonates with this. In the movie The Greatest Showman, one of the songs echoes that the broken glass of this world cannot fulfill us: “Towers of gold are still too little, these hands could hold the world, but it’ll never be enough.”

Entering into the adventure of life with Jesus brings the good things of life to the fullness and can even transform the broken glass of our lives into silver and gold. Even with this knowledge, I know that I still so often trade the Pearl of Great Price for broken glass. One of my favorite parts about camp is when Phil Berry gives the charge to those who have achieved the rank of “Brave Pathfinder.” He explains that everyday we have the choice of two paths: to follow Jesus or to not.

This is not a just a charge to those who have reached this rank, but rather a reminder to both you and me that we make the choice each and every day to either sell everything for Jesus or to leave the treasure buried in the field.

Phil also reminds us about the gift that Jesus has given us. Even on the days when we decide to not live life with Jesus, there is Forgiveness and Grace. CS Lewis says it this way, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”

I challenge both you and I everyday to chase after the Pearl of Great Price. And what about when we are gripped by fear, experience hardship or failure, or chase after broken glass? What do we do? I challenge us to run back to Jesus. He awaits us with open, loving arms (Luke 15:11-24).

The Pearl of Great Price or Broken Glass,

Jeremy Barnes
Equipped Equinox

Posted in Boys, Echoes From Final Fire | Tagged Broken Glass, Camp Ridgecrest, Christian, Echoes from Final Fire, Jeremy Barnes, Matthew 13, Pearl, summer camp