“Again, 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.”
– Matthew 13:45–46
Like that’s it. Just those two verses in Matthew 13:45–46, then it moves on to another parable. Matthew chapter 13 is filled with these short parables. This one really short, two verses, but what a potent picture!
Kingdom of heaven is like Jesus saying, “My kingdom is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.” And on finding one pearl, one Pearl of great value, this merchant went and sold all that he had, everything he had, and bought it. What if there is something that is worth losing everything for? Jesus said, “That’s my kingdom. It is something worth losing everything for worth selling all you have, surrendering all you have, letting go of all you have because my kingdom is that valuable.”
This Verse Reminds Us to Lay Our Plans Before God
We lay our plans and futures before You, O God. May we trust in You and spend our lives for the sake of Jesus receiving all glory and honor forever and ever.
Or maybe another way to put it is Jesus, the King, is that valuable. Maybe it’s not just some thing. Maybe there is someone who is worth losing everything for. So we pray. Jesus, you are that King. You are that King of great value, of infinite value. We lift our voices, our hearts, our minds to you right now as the one who is worth losing everything for. You are worthy of our lives. And You are better than everything else this world has put together.
Matthew 13:45–46 Reminds Us that Jesus Is More Valuable
We gladly lose it all, let go of it all because you are that valuable. Your kingdom is that wonderful. So we pray just in a fresh way together today, based on Matthew 13:45–46, take it all. And take our minds, our hearts, our lives, our actions, our relationships, our will’s, totally yours.
Take our money, our finances, take our future, for it’s all yours. Our plans, our dreams, we lay them all before you. And we pray. Lead us, guide us, direct us. You are our Lord. You are our Lord, just with no questions, asked no questions. God give us this kind of faith. Help us to realize how valuable Jesus is so we would say, “Yes, we’re letting go of it all” because you are that valuable, because you are that beautiful, because you’re that glorious because you are that worthy. Jesus, we praise you.
Matthew 13:45–46 Reminds Us to Seek God First
We seek first your kingdom, even right now, just like we saw in Matthew 6. We seek first your kingdom and we trust, put all our trust in you. Lead us, guide us, direct us in our lives, our families, churches. Help us to forsake all in following you help us to know what that means on a day-by-day basis to spend it all risk at all, to follow you day in and day out. Jesus, we praise you as the one who’s worth losing everything for in your name, we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
