The Pearl Merchant
The Pearl Merchant
by Dempsey Collins
(Adapted from Juan Ortiz)
First, read Matthew 13:44-46. A pearl merchant had been looking for an exquisite pearl. He came into a store that had a number of pearls on display under glass. Then he saw it!
“I want this pearl; how much is it?” he exclaimed.
“Well,” the seller says, “it’s very expensive.”
“But how much?” he asks.
“Well, a very large amount.”
“Do you think I can afford to buy it?”
“Oh, of course, everyone can buy it.”
“But I thought you said it was expensive?”
“Oh yes, it is very expensive.”
“Well how much is it?”
“Everything you have,” the seller says.
After thinking a moment, the buyer says, “Okay, I’ll take it.”
“Well, how much do you have?”
“Well, I have $10,000 in the bank.”
“Good, $10,000. What else?”
“Well, I have $60 in my pocket.”
“That’s fine, what else do you have?”
“Nothing, that’s all.”
“Where do you live?”
“In my house. Yes, I have a house.”
“The house becomes mine.”
“You mean I have to live in the camper?”
“You have a camper? That becomes mine, too.”
“Now I have to sleep in my car?”
“You have a car?”
“Yes, two of them.”
“Both become mine. What else?”
“You already have my money, my house, my camper, my two cars. I’m going to be in the doghouse when my wife finds out about this!”
“You have a wife?”
“Yes, and two kids.”
“Your wife and children are now mine. What else do you have?”
“Nothing, that’s it! You’ve got everything! What more could you want?!”
“Oh yes, I almost forgot - you, too, become mine. Here’s your pearl. Be careful not to lose it!”
The buyer, quite shaken by the deal, hobbles away, looking at his pearl.
The seller then says, “I’ll tell you what. You can have your things back on loan. But if I should ever need anything, you must give them back because now I am the owner.”
Now one of the biggest barriers to being a Christian is material things. If each of us took the attitude that our possessions were on loan from the Lord, then we wouldn’t mind so much when we lose them. Remember that many Christians have indeed lost everything they own in order to become a Christian.
Would you still become a Christian if you knew by doing so you would lose your house and car? If not, then you are not ready to become a Christian.