Command 16 : Do Not Cast Pearls | Day 112

Treasure God's Jewels!

Sometimes a song will have such meaning to me that it brings tears to my eyes. One example is the hymn "When He Cometh." The third verse says, "Little children, little children, who love their Redeemer, are the jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own. Like the stars of the morning, His brightness adorning, they shall shine in their beauty, bright gems for His crown."

The formation of a pearl and the raising of a child have many similarities in both the process and the result.

When Jesus wanted to describe the kingdom of heaven, He selected a gem that represented ultimate perfection to the Hebrew mind. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly 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).

Jesus also placed great value on children when He told His disciples, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). It is a great tragedy that many parents today look at children as burdens and not blessings. They do not realize the great potential of each child who is raised in the fear of the Lord.

I once heard a story about a tourist who purchased an inexpensive necklace in a Paris trinket shop. When he returned home, he decided to have it appraised and was shocked when the jeweler offered him $25,000 for it!

He decided to have another expert jeweler examine the necklace and was amazed to receive an offer of $35,000 for it! The astonished man asked the jeweler why such an ordinary necklace was so valuable. "Look through this glass," replied the jeweler. There he saw a small inscription that read, "From Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine." This necklace had belonged to Napoleon's wife. The new owner did not recognize the value of the necklace until he saw it from the perspective of the jeweler.

We will not fully appreciate the value of children until we see them from God's perspective as precious jewels.

The best thing you could add to your journal this week is a list with the names of each member of your family and reasons why they are of great value to you and to God. At first, you may not have much to write, but as you think about it more, ideas will come to your mind, and the more you will appreciate the great treasures that God has given you in your family. There will then be little thought of ever "casting them out"!