Matthew 13: 45-46
45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
What is life in the kingdom of heaven like? It is like someone who is searching for something more valuable, to them, than anything else in existence and then finds it. To acquire it, for it to be part of their life, that person must give up everything else of value in their life. What makes this parable notable is the idea that there is anything worth “all you have”. But Jesus says life in the kingdom is worth all you have.
Does this mean mean that we must give up “all that we have” to get into the kingdom? I don’t think so. What Jesus wants is proof we have our priorities straight. The kingdom is more valuable than anything we have. We just need to acknowledge that and give it priority in our lives.
We do that at Christmas, I think. But we need to do that all year round.