The Pearl

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

February 23, 2014

The Pearl

Revelation 21:21- And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.

Scripture makes frequent mention of pearls. Pearls stand as a measure of value, since they were, and are, valuable. Note that in Revelation 21: 21, that pearls are included in a sentence that describes a kind of heavenly gold. Such was the esteem that people in bible times held for pearls.

But what is a pearl? It is a product of strife, formed over a period of time. The longer the strife, the bigger and more desirable the pearl. Specifically, pearls are formed when a foreign object, usually a tiny grain of sand or grit, becomes trapped inside the shell of an oyster. The sand irritates the oyster’s membranes and as long as it remains there, the oyster’s body reacts to the foreign presence and coats it with a smooth, shiny material. The grain of sand then becomes a pearl.

You never find big, beautiful pearls in young oysters. It takes time to form the biggest and best pearls. In fact, not all oysters even make pearls, only ones that are plagued with the grain of sand stuck in their mantle.

Human experiences reflect the oyster and its pearl. Sometimes, we, too, are stricken with something that hurts us, but that we cannot shake. This may be a person in our lives who continually harms us, a bad workplace situation or any number of things. When we put this harmful thing, whatever it is, in perspective and no longer let it dictate our path, then we are like the oyster coating the grain of sand with the pearl material.

In the end, we grow as a result of our perseverance, a perseverance born of a thorn in our side. And like the oyster and the pearl, we don’t grow much if our pearl is small or if it is only short-lived. The best in us only comes out after a lengthy period of adversity, a time when we don’t waver, but continue plugging away, doing what we know to be good and righteous. After our work is ended, our pearl is then of immense value.

We all encounter adversity. Everyone has to contend with some kind of opposing entity. It’s what we make of it that counts in the end. God wants us to take our problems and coat them with the smooth substance of a pearl. If we don’t do that, that little grain of sand will continue to irritate and harass us for the rest of our lives.

But luckily for us, we have the means to produce that smooth, pearl coating. The grace of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross so that we may live. When we give over our problems, our irritating grains of sand to Jesus, He will smooth them so that we can continue in peace, joy and happiness.