Focus Scripture – Matthew 13: 44-52 (NLT)
Consider this: You are the merchant in the parable. You ask yourself: What are your mission, vision, goals? Being a merchant, your mission is to buy commodities. Your vision is to acquire beautiful pearls (v. 45). And your goal is to own these pearls because you believe they will provide something you need. Let’s say you’re not satisfied with the life you’re living, and you want something better. You believe the treasure will make life better for you. You believe these pearls will be a source of great joy for you and will make the discomfort and pain go away.
Right now, you might be missing something in your life. You may have low self-esteem. Somebody may be bullying you at school, at work, or at home. Somebody may be trying their best to make you think you are not good enough. And then there are others who might be feeling lost and alone. You think nobody cares about you. You’ve done your best, but your best doesn’t seem to be good enough. Nothing you try seems to work the way you expected. Perhaps you’re trying to be like everyone else, but you don’t quite fit it, nobody understands you. People talk about you and laugh at you. You feel you need a change for whatever reason – fill in the blank! The point is that you lack something essential. But you’re not sure what it is!
You’ve done everything you know how to do to make things better. But you seem to be walking around in circles and getting nowhere. You’re confused about who you are and where you’ll eventually end up. And you don’t feel you are making any progress in breaking the cycle. You feel like you’re carrying a heavy load, and you need a change, a new direction. You ask yourself: “Where do I find the pearl that’s going to change my life and make it all better?” Some people at church told you that if you found a single pearl of great price, your problems would be over. They told you that you could find the pearl in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“Okay,” you might have replied. “I’m ready to go. How do I get there? Point me in the right direction.”