Fresh Speaking
God has an eternal purpose which was realized through Christ's going to the cross in order to obtain His "pearl", His church. Matt. 13:45-46, shows us a picture, "The kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it". The Lord, went to the cross in order to buy that pearl, His church.
Using the picture of how a pearl is developed in an oyster, the brothers shared that the process begins through an irritant coming into an oyster. As this irritant stays within the oyster, the oyster secretes a "life juice" upon it and over time, this irritant becomes a precious, organic pearl, something of great value.
After I came home, I was curious about this secreting process, so I did some web searches on it. I found the following on answers.yahoo.com, bigsiteofamazingfacts.com, and newtonsapple.tv :
"When a foreign object is introduced into a mussel or oyster the animal coats the irritant with a substance called nacre, the same material with which it builds it's shell. Over time, the layers of nacre build up to form the pearl. The longer the irritant remains in the mollusc, the more layers of nacre and (usually), the better the pearl."
"The color of the pearl will be the same as the nacre lining of the shell. That is why there are black (really a dark gray), pink, cream-colored, and white pearls."
"The oyster's mantle tissue secretes the two main components of nacre: thin layers of the mineral aragonite and a glue-like substance called conchiolin, which cements the layers together. Because the aragonite is translucent, light interacts with the overlapping layers to give the finished pearl its lustrous appearance." (This last part made me think of another verse which the brothers used, 11 Cor. 3:18 "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.")
Reading the descriptions of how the pearl's is actually formed, made the picture of us, as the "irritant" and of Christ "secreting" His life "juice" upon us even more wonderful to me! The oyster does not reject the wounding irritant, and Christ never rejects us, no matter how many times we "wound" Him! As we go through our Christian life, our dear, wonderful "oyster" continues to keep coating us, layer upon layer, and in doing so, we are being formed as the pearl out of the very same material to become as He! Inwardly, He, Himself becomes our constitution and outwardly, by beholding Him, we reflect Him! We become something so precious to Him, not just as individuals, but corporately as His church! Eventually, we will become His Bride who matches Him! Oh this is too wonderful!
I also appreciated the Lord's "secretion" so often comes through the brothers and sisters. How often I feel that even though I am an "irritant" to them, they don't reject me, rather, through their living Christ, they "secrete" His life covering me, and caring for me. In them, I see the Christ whom they have beheld reflecting to me. Hopefully, I too, "secrete" the Christ that is being formed in me to others, and they in turn to those around them.
Lord, it seems so long that You purchased Your church, yet, it is over these centuries, that more and more layers of "nacre" has surrounded Her. We thank You that You have welcomed and included us, the very ones who have wounded You, to become a portion of Your pearl of great worth. May our hearts be open to You all the days of our lives that in us, You would find something of Yourself that would be precious to You.
Judy G.