FAITH – OUR PRICELESS TREASURE
[8-minute read]
In every major city, elaborate Christmas trees decked out with expensive ornaments, lights, gold and glitter draw huge crowds and encourage festive spending. Meanwhile, overhead speakers supply an unbroken soundtrack of Christmassy songs of silver bells and dreams of a white Christmas. Businesses and social media influencers create a world of make-believe – snow in tropical climates, picture-perfect relationships, and the ‘magic of Christmas’ replaces the meaning of Christmas. People rush from store to store searching for the “perfect gift” as if joy could be bought, wrapped, and placed neatly under a tree.
Overwhelmingly beyond the church walls, the true treasure of Christmas – the birth of a Saviour - fades into the background. Patek Philip is more desired than the Prince of Peace, and personal success is more important than a personal saviour.
What about us? The bible talks about ‘fine pearls’, as well as ‘silver and gold’ – what do these mean for believers and our own story of faith?
THE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE
Pearls are popular and precious gemstones, especially at weddings. They reflect elegance and class. The Bible uses pearls to illustrate the true value of heaven as in, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything to buy it.” (Matthew 13:45-46).
What would you give up if your current lifestyle could not satisfy your deeper needs or give you the fulfillment you are looking for? What if that pearl of knowledge and intellectualism you pursued so fiercely and held on so tightly could not give a satisfactory explanation for the disquiet inside you?
The Bible made reference to ‘a merchant looking for fine pearls’ because we are all looking for them – the pearl of recognition, of distinction, of safety, or of substance. In truth, the most precious pearl we need comes from the kingdom of heaven. Just as real pearls are continuously formed inside a living shellfish (like oyster or mussel) as a natural defense against irritation, God uses the discomfort and trials of life to polish the pearl of faith within each of us.
As our perspective changes, we begin to let life circumstances shape and mature our faith in Christ. We engage in deeper self-assessment instead of defend ourselves when we face conflicts, challenges and crises. Everything we once rely on gradually fades in value when measured against the joy of walking with Christ, for Jesus Himself is the priceless treasure that outshines all the world’s promises.
SILVER OR GOLD I DO NOT HAVE
These words were first made famous by the apostle Peter when he responded to a lame beggar who asked him for money. We all know that silver and gold become precious metals only after a series of refining, shaping, and certification steps that turn them in their raw form into pure, investment-grade bullions. They would enrich anyone, including beggars.
To the beggar, Peter said point-blank, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Instead of enriching a disabled beggar, Peter offered him the priciest treasure he could ever have in his life – the power of healing in Jesus’ Name – and restored to him the ability to take responsibility for his livelihood, and be anything he wanted to be – besides begging.
Faith grows deepest when we have nothing else to fall back on – once we realize that self-reliance only leaves us feeling depleted and defeated. When we have come to the end of self-preservation yet our issues remain unresolved. When our walls of defense have only kept us feeling more imprisoned and isolated than ever. Peter was well-acquainted with all this; that was why he declared that he had nothing of value to offer anyone – not relationship advice, not quick-fix solutions, not life hacks – except faith in Jesus Christ.
MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
In the records of 1 Peter, the apostle Peter wrote to the new Christian diaspora in the region about “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” to encourage them to persevere in facing the heat of Christian persecution because that was the only way their faith in Christ could be activated and matured.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
Whatever trials and challenges we go through are not without purpose or meaning. Instead of rejecting what facts and our feelings are informing us, we activate faith to believe in God to reverse the impossible. In most cases, it also doesn’t help to play the victim of spiritual attacks, absolve all personal responsibilities, and avoid being accountable for our own actions.
There is nothing more powerful and transformative than faith that is activated. As soon as the lame beggar took his first steps of faith, he began to see options he could never dream of before and he had to decide how to live - no longer as a handicap but as an able-bodied person. Christians, too, are entrusted with a faith that is more precious than gold, not only for our own consumption, but to transform communities and each other’s lives. We don’t have the option to be uninvolved in our communities, or be indifferent to each other.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 29 November 2025.
