Pearls
WORD PICTURE: STRING OF GENUINE PEARLS
Scriptural Reference: Psalm 31:14-15
But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
1. Present a string of PEARLS (real or not) and have everyone read from their translations Psalm 31:14-15. Focus on key words “in your hands.”
2. Read this story (suggested by an e-mail):
A five-year-old girl bought her very own (imitation) pearl necklace with her very own money. She wanted those pearls so badly that she used some of her birthday money, and she earned the rest by doing chores for her mother and a neighbor.
The little girl loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Her mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green. The pearls weren’t real but it didn’t matter to the little girl. She had bought them herself!
The little girl had a very loving father. One day he said, "Sweetheart, do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my toy horse."
"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, the little girl’s father asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll."
"That's okay. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few days later the little girl nervously walked up to her father and held out her fake pearl necklace. "Here, Daddy. This is for you."
The father reached out with one hand to take the imitation pearl necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to his daughter. He had had them all the time, but was waiting for her to give up the inexpensive fake so he could give her genuine treasure. He was unwilling to give the real thing to her until she was willing to give up the fake beads.
In a way, this is like our heavenly Father.
3. Ask people to notice the wording in the story -- the phrases “the other hand” and “the real thing.” Describe what comes to mind with the phrase “the other hand” -- a picture of God the Father having two hands, both reaching down toward earth. One hand is Jesus (who retrieves us from Eternal Loss and brings us to safety in Eternal Life); the other hand is the Holy Spirit (who guides us to victory here on earth). Both hands point to the Bible (Basic Information Before Leaving Earth), which says that that believers have the victory over hell -- Jesus holds The Real Thing in His Hand. But even we believers are failing to obtain The Real Thing in our earthly lives. The question is what “fake pearls” are we settling for in our earthly lives?
What I Shared
For me, God is trying to hand me the real thing, but I won’t let go of the old pop-it beads I’ve had since I was a child. How do I obtain the real thing? I have to put down the old ones -- give them to Him. Then (and only then) will He give me the real thing.
My example comes from my 30-plus-year marriage to a man who disapproved of organized religion and thought that the Bible generated intolerance. I had been a Christian for 17 years, and the Bible had proven itself to me. I pray scripture when I pray, because I know that God keeps His Word. Acts 16:32 (Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.) featured predominantly for me, since it promised household salvation for the believer and I yearned for spiritual unity in my home.
So, for some years, I was thanking God for His promise of salvation for my husband -- and looking forward to its manifestation here on earth. Then someone suggested that I stop referring to my husband as an unbeliever and that I start calling him “Saved by Faith” -- like the name “Dances with Wolves” but instead, “Saved by Faith.” So I did. And when I did, I found myself actually acting as if the miracle of his salvation had already manifested in his life. I started seeking my husband’s guidance on every issue -- including things spiritual. I began actually treating him (SBF) as though he were actually a believer, the spiritual head of the house.
Now I was not just thanking God for the abstraction of a future miracle -- I was actually acting as if it had already manifested in our family life (Romans 4:17b — the God who ... calls things that are not as though they were). The amazing result was the discovery that “SBF” did indeed hear from God!
So -- I decided to put down those old pop-it beads -- hand them over! -- because I want what He’s got in His hands, and I know I can’t have what He’s got until I put down my own.
So -- is there any way YOU are settling for something less than The Real Thing in YOUR life? Is there anything God is trying to offer YOU but you keep pushing His Hand away?
All Scripture references from the New International Version of the Bible (NIV).
Copyright by Whitney McKendree Moore, August 2006