Pearls

I wish, brothers and sisters, that we could all imitate "the pearl oyster"--A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. It cannot reject the evil, but what does it do but "cover" it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl! Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians, so that pearls of patience, gentleness, and forgiveness might be bred within us by that which otherwise would have harmed us.  Charles Spurgeon

I was thinking about pearls and how they are formed.  A pearl begins as an irritant in an oyster.  It can be a grain of sand or a parasite or even a piece of shell that gets lodged into the soft inner body of the oyster.  The oyster’s defensive action against the irritant is it secretes a smooth crystalline substance called nacre.  As long as the irritant is there the oyster will continue to secrete this substance.  It forms layer upon layer and over time the irritant will be covered over and over again with the nacre.  The result of this continuous covering is a completely smooth, lustrous gem.  There is no need to polish its smooth surface.

The nacre is composed of microscopic crystals of calcium carbonate perfectly aligned.  The result when light is passed along the axis of one crystal is it reflects and produces an amazing rainbow of light and color.

God created this amazing creature that can produce something beautiful from something harmful.  We are much like the pearl if you think about it.  We are born sinless into a sinful world.  What happens?  Along come the irritants of life.  What we become from there depends on how we handle the irritant.  We can cover it with love, kindness, patience, gentleness and forgiveness or we can cover it with hatred, anger, impatience, cruelty and unforgiveness.  How we handle the one grain of sand can make the difference in whether we reflect God’s light and illuminate or deflect God’s light and live in darkness. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You give us examples of Your greatness by the very creatures here on earth.  I want to be like a pearl, where I reflect the very nature of You.  I often fail but I will never stop trying to become a person who illuminates and reflects You instead of being covered in darkness.     

Scripture:  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:13-16

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46