A Reflection On Commitment

When I want to value the gospel above all else

Jesus told a parable about a merchant discovering a very valuable pearl. There are several ways to approach this parable. One of them is to understand Christ as the pearl and us lost human beings as the searching merchants. The implication is that when the gospel comes into a person’s life, it is everything. It is not a philosophy to add to the mix, or an access to God that will help us accomplish our goals. It is a radical rearrangement of all of life.

Is Jesus everything to us? Or one loyalty among several? If someone asked us how much we would give up in order to know Him, is there anything we would hold back? Do we believe only when it doesn’t cost us too much? It’s easy to know the right answer to these questions; a wholehearted abandonment to Christ is more difficult and more profound. What is the pearl of your life?

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

Matthew 13:45-46