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. Matt 13:45-46 (ESV)

Dream Come True – Part 5

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4

The merchant lived a life of endless trade. Buying and selling, trying to make the deal that would set up him up for life. But it was an elusive task. Consumerism, greed, the hunt, the desire for more… It’s a never ending cycle. Pearls. Lots of them. That was his answer. So he went on a quest to find what would set him and his business apart. But then he found this one pearl, and unexpectedly, it turned out to be all he wanted and he sold all he had to have it. Even though it cost him everything, he gave himself over to the transformation, and a merchant he was no longer.

What is your pearl?

God wove into us threads of destiny, embryos of skill and the natural ability toward certain things… I believe that within us lie the seeds to whatever it is God has created us to do; whatever it is that makes us come alive and compels us to abandon all else so that we can do, be involved in, obtain and be.

Being in the Kingdom of Heaven is like searching for what you were put here for… becoming your true self. And perhaps, sometimes, this comes about in unexpected ways and leads us to unexpected places. Like searching for pearls to sell, but finding one and keeping it.

Ultimately, this parable is about transformation and our willingness to be transformed. Not in a redemptive way, but regarding purpose and journey.

Are we willing to shed the merchant to become the pearl owner?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to be a writer. But over the years, the fear of failure and of being rejected has kept this dream simply that, ‘a dream.’ I’ve picked up a pen every now and then, but I hadn’t made any kind of commitment to making my dream come true. In fact, the desire to be a writer is almost more comfortable than being one. Dreams are beautiful. Making our dreams become our realities is hard work, risky work and a tad scary (if not entirely frightening). In terms of writing, Ernest Hemingway was right. He said, “There’s nothing to [it], all you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.” To be honest, I feel like a perpetual bleeder. I say to Jesse (husband) that writing these devotions every single day is the scariest and most uncomfortable thing that I have ever done.

I have never felt so alive.

Even still, the fear of rejection, the anxiety over the negative reviews I get on the App Store, the idea that I might not be good enough to ‘make it' in the literary world, almost makes me give it up at least once a week.

But this parable challenges me to leave behind the fears, the comfort, the 9am-5pm job, the ease of not putting my soul out to dry (through a devotion) every single day, the pain of ridicule, the stress of deadlines, the threat to my reputation… will I sell it all to obtain what I really want? What I know deep in my bones I was born to do?

What about YOU?

What is your pearl? Are you willing to give all that you currently know and have to obtain it?

And on another level, when you discover the Kingdom of God and its treasures (faith hope and love and more) don’t you think it changes you from someone who deals in emotions – trading one for another – into someone who has ultimate peace, redemption and love? No longer having to trade for moments of happiness and fulfilment, but living with the very source of it all?

That’s transformation.
That’s going from a merchant to a pearl owner.
A dreamer to a writer.
A lost soul to someone who belongs.

And it can happen to the most unexpected of humans in the most unexpected ways.

Go to Passion In The Blood – Part 6 »
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