What does the discovery of God mean?  Jesus himself speaks of a man turning right about, being converted (Matt. 18:3); of the revision of all ideas, of all standards, of all values.  He gives us two beautiful pictures to illustrate what it means; and it repays us to linger over them.  First, there is the Treasure Finder.  He is in the country, digging perhaps in another man’s field, or idling in the open; and by accident he stumbles on a buried treasure.  Palestine was like Belgium—­a land with a long history of wars fought on its soil by foreigners, Babylon or Assyria against Egypt, Ptolemies against Seleucids.  It was the only available route for attack either on Egypt by land, or on Syria or Mesopotamia or Babylon from the Southern Mediterranean.  In such a land when the foreign army marched through, a man had best hide his treasure and hope to find it again in better times, and again and again the secret of its place of burial died with him.  The Treasure Finder had no lord of the manor to think of, no Treasury department.  He made a great discovery, and made it initially for himself, and his own—­“and for joy thereof he goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field.”  We can see him full of his discovery, full of eagerness and trying to hide his inner joy, as he realizes every penny he can manage, and achieves the great transaction which gives him the field and the treasure.  The salient points are a sudden and great joy, an instant resolution, a complete sacrifice of everything, and a life unexpectedly and infinitely enriched.  And so it is, says Jesus, with the Kingdom of God (Matt. 13:44).

The Pearl Merchant is a more interesting figure.  Perhaps we may picture him middle-aged, a trifle worn, somewhat silent, a man of keen eyes.  He has been in his trade for years, and he is a master at it.  By now he has a knowledge which years give to a man in earnest—­a knowledge more like instinct than anything acquired.  A glance at pearls on a table—­this, and this, and this he will take the other, perhaps; he would look at that one—­the rest? he shook his head and did not look at them—­he saw without looking.  One day he is told of a pearl—­a good one.  He is not surprised, for pearls are always good when they are offered for sale.  But again a glance is enough.  The price?  Yes, it is high, but he will take the pearl, but he must be allowed till evening to get the money.  He goes away and sells his stock—­the little collection of pearls in his wallet, representing “the experience of a life-time,” all of them good, as he very well knows; and he sells them for what he can get—­at a loss, if it must be.  Yesterday’s bargainer cuts down his price for this and that pearl, and he is taken up; he never expected to do so well against the old dealer, and he laughs.  But the merchant is content, too; he has sold all his pearls for what they would fetch—­lost money on them, yes, and been laughed at behind his back.  But he owns the one pearl of great price; it is his, and he is satisfied.  There is no reference to joy here or exultation; but there is the same instant recognition of the opportunity, the same resolve, the same sacrifice, and the same great acquisition (Matt. 13:45).