June 18th

June 18th

Read: Rev. 21:21; 2 Thessalonians. 1:3-4; 1 Peter 2:1-5; 2 Peter 3:18

Did you ever wonder why the gates of Heaven are huge pearls? Or why Jesus talked about the ‘pearl of great price’? I wonder if it is because a pearl is a bit of organic perfection in itself. It is formed by a living mollusk which protects itself with a film formed around a bit of sand, an irritating invasion into its cloistered life. A pearl is not a stone, a piece of mineral which can be cut to the size and shape of man’s desire. If a pearl is cut, it cannot be repaired, nor is it any longer useful.

When strife, pain, sorrow, or trouble invades your comfort zone, remember the pearl and surround that irritation with prayer and love and patience and grace. Then see if there isn’t some growth in your life.

THE STRING OF PEARLS
The string of pearls to value most
Is the one we earn from life,
The glowing acts of beauty sprung
From heartache’s inner strife.

As pearls are formed from bits of sand
Within the mollusk’s shell,
So it is that love and growth
From pain and sorrow swell.

The pearl so rare, the costly one,
Is oft found deepest down
Where troublous tides drag deep and hard
And faint hearts often drown.

But if that pearl is once redeemed
From out the ocean’s deep,
That beauteous treasure-find of growth
Is ours to value and keep.

Prayer: Dear Lord, when waters roll over my soul, help me to redeem the pearl of growth in my life.