Matt 13:46; “Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it”.

Have you ever said to someone, ‘Oh, you paid too much for that’….?

None of us like paying over the odds. I think our outings for a new vehicle always carry a certain resoluteness not to get ‘ripped off’ and end up paying more for a vehicle than we were comfortable with. We often guard our wallets to avoid such a scenario and yet there are times when we feel the pinch of paying ‘much too high a price’.

Last year I had this idea that I was going to start two collections (both of which I did complete). The first collection would consist of a banknote from every country in the world, minus a few islands. (I figured I didn’t need a banknote from Pitcairn). The next collection was a little more challenging as I decided to find banknotes for all European countries involved in World War I. That meant that each banknote from the participating countries had to be printed and in circulation prior to the start of the Great War, that was evoked June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. No small feat. And, if truth be known I probably paid ‘much too high a price’ for old banknotes from Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg. Some may look at these notes and think that it is ludicrous to spend large amount of funds on old paper, but for me I was willing to pay more for these ‘treasures’ of a world forgotten by many. They have become invaluable to me.

It was whilst pondering on these banknotes and their prices that I was quickly reminded of a song that my good friend Devin Webb sang with Michael Neale; “Much to High a Price”. Here was the line that struck me like a hot blade;

“You paid much too high a price for me

Your tears, your blood, the pain

To have my soul just stirred at times

Yet never truly change”.

This old song has lyrics that cut deep if you let them. I found myself with the song stuck on repeat as I meditated once again on the price the Christ paid for mankind. Jesus truly is that merchant that went out and sold all He had just to purchase this pearl. This pearl of great price. Oh, the deep and far reaching love and mercy of our Lord. Being obedient unto death for our sake and yet as the lyricist states; we often have our souls stirred by this very truth, and yet our propensity is that we never truly make a change.

 It is moments like these that I am challenged and even feel charged to ‘step up’ and make sure that I don’t allow my soul to feel the stirring of the Living God only to remain the same as before the spiritual stirring began. Don’t let moments of stirring pass you by, receive them, ruminate on them and then let them change you.