Finding one pearl of great value, [he] went and sold all that he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:46
Priorities seem like a simple concept. However, humans easily major on the minors and minor on the majors, particularly with all the distractions that are popular today. Children used to vie with the newspaper for their parents’ attention. Then television monopolized the time of both adults and children. Today, the time wasters have grown exponentially with the internet and electronic gadgets. Anything can become a distraction, sports, careers, and even loved ones can distract you from the pearl of great price.
Jesus is the only way to the Father. He offered salvation through His sacrifice on the cross. Christ is the one who sent the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). God is the believer’s number one priority. Everything is second to Him, including loved ones. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). In context, this does not mean you hate your family, but that it could appear so in comparison to your love for God.
Ask the Lord to help you make Him the priority in your life and put aside the distractions of the world. Examine how you spend your time and money. Do you treat the Lord as your pearl of great price? As you pray for this nation, ask God to move in His people to truly put Him first. Pray that believers will commit to loving the Lord and others each day. Pray for the citizens and governing officials to place God in Christ as their number one priority.
Today’s Verse: Matthew 13:46
who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Matthew 6:19-34
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
