In a previous meditation we saw, in one of Jesus’ parables, that we can become beautiful and attractive to God through faith in Jesus Christ. He can cleanse us from our sin and make us fit to enter heaven, when our journey on earth ends. Let me remind you of the parable we considered:
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it’, Matthew chapter 13 verses 45-46.

It is important to observe that the merchant found only ONE PEARL of great price. There were, of course, numerous other pearls but none of them met what he was looking for. It reminds us of the words of Jesus, when He said, ‘I did not come to call the righteous, but SINNERS to repentance’, Mark chapter 2 verse 17. He did not come to call the righteous, because there were none! He left heaven to seek for sinners, who recognised that their lives were not right before God and that they needed to turn in repentance to Him. Indeed, Mark’s Gospel tells us, ‘And the common people heard Him gladly’, Mark chapter 12 verse 37.

The pearl that the merchant found was unique and if we turn in repentance toward God and trust Christ we become part of something that is unique, i.e. the church, which consists of all Christians from the time the gospel message was first preached in Acts chapter 2 until the time Christ returns to take them home to heaven, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16-17. Are you a part of this PEARL OF GREAT PRICE?

If you need encouragement today and a renewed sense of what you, along with countless others, mean to God, consider the words of the hymn writer:

‘In deep eternal counsel, before the world was made,
Before its deep foundations on nothingness were laid;
God purposed us for blessing, and chose us in His Son,
To Him to be conformed, when here our course was run.’