17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A Pearl

‘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

Do you have something that fills you with enthusiasm, so much so that you are willing to make every sacrifice to experience something so wonderful. Jesus tells us that God’s kingdom is like that. But, is it something we think of attaining when we die or are we actively seeking out the God’s Kingdom in the here and now?

‘The Pearl of Great Price’ is perhaps the loveliest of all the images that Jesus uses to describes the Kingdom of Heaven. But don’t look upon this parable as an example of greed. What is important here is the joy of the discovery and the sacrifice that is made to obtain what is of great value.

To be in God’s Kingdom is to perfectly accept his will as our own and then to go and carry out his will in the world, in our day to day lives, however hard and sacrificial that might be. He takes us as we are; unlovely, unreliable, selfish people and offers us the opportunity not only of a lifetime but a life everlasting with Him. If we can live like Jesus, we can be examples of life lived in him, that pearl is God’s Kingdom of love,

Have you given all you have to obtain that Pearl which is the Kingdom of Heaven? If you haven’t, ask yourself, ‘What matters most to me’?

              A charge to keep I have:
              a God to glorify;
              a never-dying soul to save,
              and fit it for the sky;

              To serve the present age,
              my calling to fulfil;
              O may it all my powers engage
              to do my Master's will!

              Help me to watch and pray,
              and on yourself rely,
              so shall I not my trust betray,
              nor love within me die.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

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