The Pearl of Great Price

God lives and works today. We all have a need in our lives, a need for something meaningful that will bring us complete satisfaction. There is only one thing, one person who can completely fulfill this need.

It is Jesus Christ. After one of our retreats here on Canaan, a young woman from India wrote to us how she had found this precious pearl, as we will hear in today's meditation. People used to congratulate me for my Christian service.

This made me feel ashamed of myself, for I knew that everything was not quite right in my life. I was not happy. I felt like a hypocrite.

I tried approaching some religious leaders for help. Most of them could explain in a theoretical way the divine happiness of heaven, but they could not show me how to be happy here, now on earth. I thought to myself, if I cannot be happy here in this world now, how can I be sure of having a happy life in heaven? This question caused me many sleepless nights.

Then the search started. I spent all my savings and bought a ticket to travel around the world. During my journey, I visited some Christian institutions, but in all the places I visited, I found very few people who actually looked happy.

On my way back to India, I decided at the last minute to stop and visit Canaan. When I was shown to my room, I noticed some books lying on the table. I picked one up and started to read it.

It happened to be Mother Basilea's autobiography. This book opened my eyes. Through it, I found the pearl of great price for which I had been searching.

As Mother Basilea discovered in her life, it is love for Jesus that makes a person happy. In my ministry in India, I had been trying all the time to please God by doing some good works. To me, God has been a hard taskmaster, but now I see everything in a different light.

I have found the pearl of great price. And what is the secret of finding this pearl? We read it in Matthew 13, verses 45 and 46. A merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

This pearl is available for all who will love Jesus with their first love. He is waiting for you to come to him today. Will you do it? If you do, you will experience that he will give you himself, his love and his joy.

Jesus is love everlasting, he came to us below, that God to all his children a selfless love might show. Eternal love is still waiting and bleeds with every heart. Oh, won't you hear and answer? I cannot bear to part.

You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet.

If you do not have access to the web, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099. God bless you.