I love the story recently recounted by Jill Carattini of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries:
Barbara Krensavage insists that clams are not a regular part of her diet. Yet one snowy evening in December she found herself craving an old recipe and so brought home four dozen quahogs—a clam particularly abundant along the Eastern shores of the United States, between Cape Cod and New Jersey.
Mr. Krensavage was in the midst of shucking the shellfish for dinner when he discovered one that looked like it was dead. It had a different color to it and he thought it was diseased. As he was about to discard it, Mrs. Krensavage took a closer look.
It wasn’t dead. In fact, inside the live clam was a rare, possibly priceless, purple pearl. Experts estimate that roughly one in two million quahog clams contains a gem-quality pearl like the one found by the Krensavages.
Due to the great rarity of the find, it has been difficult to even place a value on it, though some have estimated the pearl to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Anyone familiar with the Bible will be hard pressed to read this story without recalling the words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 44-46:
44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
I will always remember with great joy the day that I first heard and then acted upon the good news of Jesus Christ. Realizing that what He was offering me, eternal and abundant life, was of infinitely more value than anything else I had ever encountered, I chose to forsake all else and committed to follow Him fully.
As a result, I have stored up for me a treasure in Heaven that surpasses anything this world can offer. and between now and then, my life has been enriched as never before.
The great thing about this eternal treasure is that even though untold millions of people have already found it, it still remains undiscovered and unembraced by others. Yet, all who find it continue to experience the joy that comes with discovering and possessing it!
If you have not yet found that treasure, I hope you soon will. And when you do, I hope you will let go of everything else and embrace it supremely! Only then will you know true joy!
SOURCE: http://rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/transfigured/.
SEE ALSO: http://rzim.org/bio/jill-carattini/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/13.htm.
Barbara Krensavage insists that clams are not a regular part of her diet. Yet one snowy evening in December she found herself craving an old recipe and so brought home four dozen quahogs—a clam particularly abundant along the Eastern shores of the United States, between Cape Cod and New Jersey.
Mr. Krensavage was in the midst of shucking the shellfish for dinner when he discovered one that looked like it was dead. It had a different color to it and he thought it was diseased. As he was about to discard it, Mrs. Krensavage took a closer look.
It wasn’t dead. In fact, inside the live clam was a rare, possibly priceless, purple pearl. Experts estimate that roughly one in two million quahog clams contains a gem-quality pearl like the one found by the Krensavages.
Due to the great rarity of the find, it has been difficult to even place a value on it, though some have estimated the pearl to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Anyone familiar with the Bible will be hard pressed to read this story without recalling the words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 44-46:
44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
I will always remember with great joy the day that I first heard and then acted upon the good news of Jesus Christ. Realizing that what He was offering me, eternal and abundant life, was of infinitely more value than anything else I had ever encountered, I chose to forsake all else and committed to follow Him fully.
As a result, I have stored up for me a treasure in Heaven that surpasses anything this world can offer. and between now and then, my life has been enriched as never before.
The great thing about this eternal treasure is that even though untold millions of people have already found it, it still remains undiscovered and unembraced by others. Yet, all who find it continue to experience the joy that comes with discovering and possessing it!
If you have not yet found that treasure, I hope you soon will. And when you do, I hope you will let go of everything else and embrace it supremely! Only then will you know true joy!
SOURCE: http://rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/transfigured/.
SEE ALSO: http://rzim.org/bio/jill-carattini/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/13.htm.