The Pearl

I recently received a beautiful pearl ring as a gift from my husband. This ring was something I had wanted for a long time and we spent a long time searching for the "perfect" one. I'm talking about, I was on a relentless search for this perfect pearl. Anywhere my husband and I went on a trip, we searched the jewelry stores but always came up empty. It was one of those times where I had in my mind exactly what I wanted, and I didn't really want to settle for just any ol' pearl ring. After months of searching stores and websites, we finally found it! We walked up to a jewelry counter, looked in the glass case to find the exact ring I had had in my mind! Not only was it the exact ring I was looking for, but they only had one and it was exactly my size - a 6 1/2! I instantly knew this ring was meant for me, I mean, what are the odds it was exactly what I had been searching for for so long and in my exact ring size?! It was a perfect fit! I was ecstatic! I had some other things I had picked out to buy at this particular store, but as soon as I knew I had found my ring, I put the other merchandise back so I would make sure I could purchase this ring! That's how excited I was that I had found this beautiful ring.

After a couple of days of wearing the ring, I noticed that because I was not used to wearing a ring on that finger everyday, it was starting to annoy me. I was tempted to take it off multiple times to keep from being annoyed, but everytime I thought about how it was rubbing on my finger, I looked at the ring and was reminded of it's perfect beauty to me! The thought of not wearing this ring that I had searched so long for was out of the question. When I looked at how beautiful it was, I knew without a doubt that it was going to stay on my finger and my finger would just have to get used to it.

As I was having these thoughts in my head, the Lord spoke to me. He reminded me of His words in Matthew 13:45-46

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

I was reminded that I have found the pearl of great value, one of far greater value than the pearl on my hand - the kingdom of heaven. It's worth any price, any discomfort, any inconvenience. It's worth me giving everything. When I look at it's beauty, it overwhelms me to the point that it doesn't matter what it takes, I'm holding on to it! It's the treasure that my heart searched for for so long, and I take great delight in my treasure!

God Almighty will be your treasure,
more wealth than you can imagine.
You'll take delight in God, the Mighty One,
and look to him joyfully, boldly. Job 22:25-26