A pearl of great price
Sometimes a few words can change our lives. 'I love you.' 'Yes, I will marry you.' 'You've won!' 'The job is yours.' We play them back time and again to savour the moment of joy. And that joy can change the colour of the world around us. It can make tedious tasks more bearable, difficult people easier to like. But the joyous thrill doesn't usually last for ever. One day the relationship will have settled down, the silver wedding celebrated, the award certificate faded on the wall, the job long changed.
In his letter to the Colossians Paul wrote: 'God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory' (Colossians 1:27).
Here is a pearl of great price, a nugget of joy, which could, if we let it, change our lives and our world, and change them for ever - Christ in you, the hope of glory. We can get used to the language of the bible, dulled to what the text is actually saying, just as we allow married love to fade or joy to be hidden by hassle. Then suddenly, in a eureka moment of God given grace, a few words leap off the page and hit us between the eyes.
Here is a word from the Lord which says, 'I love you', 'you have won', as well as 'I will be with you for ever'. I have Christ in me - and that gives me the hope of glory. However long ago we began our journey with him, however hard some of that journey may have been, this nugget of joy, this pearl, is security and affirmation and promise. This joy can change the worst of circumstances into something bearable and bless all our happinesses. Today, we can know the glorious riches of this mystery, Christ in us, the hope of glory.
'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit' (Romans 15:13).
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