A [rooster] was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw. “Ho! ho!” quoth he, “that’s for me,” and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? “You may be a treasure,” quoth Master [Rooster], “to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls.” Precious things are for those that can prize them. From Aesop’s Fables
Is this fable not the story of the unbeliever and the life-long struggle of the believer? Christ is indeed the pearl of great price and yet we so often desire a “single barley-corn” rather than a “peck of pearls”. The rooster’s problem is the same as ours; he is living for food which perishes and neglecting the greater treasure.
Lord, give us hearts to treasure that which is truly treasure. Give us the faith of Moses that chose to endure suffering for the sake of Christ rather than the fleeting pleasures of sin. Remove our hearts of stone that can stare at beauty and desire bread for today rather than bread which endures forever.
