Virgie, this is priceless!  Thanks for sharing.
David
Don't let the god of this world be the God of your world.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "VIRGIE UNDERWOOD" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 1:10 PM
Subject: Fw: The Pearl


My echurch family,
I hope you enjoy this wonderful story.
Virgie and Hoshi


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "rcuster" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "patti" <[log in to unmask]>; "VIRGIE UNDERWOOD" 
<[log in to unmask]>; "richardcampbell" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 7:46 AM
Subject: Fw: The Pearl



----- Original Message ----- 
From: Allan Lockerbie
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 5:53 AM
Subject: The Pearl


The Pearl
David Morse, American missionary to India... became great friends
there with the pearl-diver, Rambhau. Many an evening he spent in
Rambhau's cabin reading to him from the Bible, and explaining to him
God's way of salvation.
Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of God, but whenever the
missionary tried to get Rambhau to accept Christ as his Savior -- he
would shake his head and reply, "Your Christian way to heaven is too
easy for me! I cannot accept it. If ever I should find admittance to
heaven in that manner... I would feel like a pauper there... like a
beggar who has been let in out of pity. I may be proud... but I want
to deserve, I want to earn my place in heaven... and so I am going
to work for it."
Nothing the missionary could say seemed to have any effect on
Rambhau's decision, and so quite a few years slipped by. One
evening, however, the missionary heard a knock on his door, and on
going to open it he found Rambhau there.
"Come in, dear friend," said Morse.
"No," said the pearl-diver. "I want you to come with me to my house,
Sahib, for a short time... I have something to show you. Please do
not say 'No'."
"Of course I'll come," replied the missionary. As they neared his
house, Rambhau said: "In a week's time I start working for my place
in heaven; I am leaving for Delhi... and I am going there on my
knees."
"Man, you are crazy! It's nine hundred miles to Delhi, and the skin
will break on your knees, and you will have blood-poisoning or
leprosy before you get to Bombay."
"No, I must get to Delhi," affirmed Rambhau, "and the immortals will
reward me for it! The suffering will be sweet... for it will
purchase heaven for me!"
"Rambhau, my friend... you can't. How can I bear you to do it...
when Jesus Christ has suffered and died to purchase heaven for you!"
But the old man could not be moved. "You are my dearest friend on
earth, Sahib Morse. Through all these years you have stood by me in
sickness, in want... you have been sometimes my only friend. But
even you cannot turn me from my desire to purchase eternal bliss...
I must go to Delhi!"
Inside the hut Morse was seated in the very chair Rambhau had
specially built for him... where on so many occasions he had read to
him the Bible.
Rambhau left the room to return soon with a small but heavy English
strongbox. "I have had this box for years," said he, "and I keep
only one thing in it. Now I will tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I
once had a son..."
"A son! Why, Rambhau, you have never before said a word about him!"
"No, Sahib, I couldn't." Even as he spoke the diver's eyes were
moistened.
"Now I must tell you, for soon I will leave, and who knows whether I
shall ever return? My son was a diver too. He was the best pearl
diver on the coasts of India. He had the swiftest dive, the keenest
eye, the strongest arm, the longest breath of any man who ever
sought for pearls.
What joy he brought to me! Most pearls, as you know, have some
defect or blemish only the expert can discern, but my boy always
dreamed of finding the 'perfect' pearl... one beyond all that was
ever found. One day he found it! But even when he saw it... he had
been under water too long... That pearl cost him his life, for he
died soon after."
The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a moment his whole body
shook, but there was no sound. "All these years," he continued, "I
have kept this pearl... but now I am going, not to return, and to
you, my best friend... I am giving my pearl."
The old man worked the combination on the strongbox and drew from it
a carefully wrapped package. Gently opening the cotton, he picked up
a mammoth pearl and placed it in the hand of the missionary.
It was one of the largest pearls ever found off the coast of India,
and glowed with a luster and brilliance never seen in cultured
pearls. It would have brought a fabulous sum in any market.
For a moment the missionary was speechless and gazed with
awe. "Rambhau! What a pearl!"
"That pearl, Sahib, is perfect," replied the Indian quietly. The
missionary looked up quickly with a new thought: Was not this the
very opportunity and occasion he had prayed for... to make Rambhau
understand the value of Christ's sacrifice? So he said,
designedly, "Rambhau, this is a wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl.
Let me buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars for it."
"Sahib! What do you mean?"
"Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars for it, or if it
takes more... I will work for it."
"Sahib," said Rambhau, stiffening his whole body, "this pearl is
beyond price. No man in all the world has money enough to pay what
this pearl is worth to me. On the market a million dollars could not
buy it. I will not sell it to you. You may only have it as a gift."
"No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As much as I want the pearl, I
cannot accept it that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is too easy.
I must pay for it, or work for it..."
The old pearl-diver was stunned. "You don't understand at all,
Sahib. Don't you see. My only son gave his life to get this pearl,
and I wouldn't sell it for any money. Its worth is in the life-blood
of my son. I cannot sell this... but I can give it to you. Just
accept it in token of the love I bear you."
The missionary was choked, and for a moment could not speak. Then he
gripped the hand of the old man. "Rambhau," he said in a low
voice, "don't you see? My words are just what you have been saying
to God all the time."
The diver looked long and searchingly at the missionary, and slowly,
slowly he began to understand. "God is offering you salvation as a
free gift," said the missionary. "It is so great and priceless that
no man on earth can buy it. Millions of dollars are too little. No
man on earth could earn it. His life would be millions of years too
short. No man is good enough to deserve it. It cost God the life-
blood of His only Son to make the entrance for you into heaven. In a
million years, in a hundred pilgrimages, you could not earn that
entrance. All you can do is to accept it as a token of God's love
for you... a sinner.
"Rambhau, of course I will accept the pearl in deep humility,
praying God that I may be worthy of your love. Rambhau, won't you
accept God's great gift of heaven, too, in deep humility, knowing it
cost Him the death of His Son to offer it to you?"
Great tears were now rolling down the cheeks of the old man. The
veil was beginning to lift. "Sahib, I see it now. I have believed in
the doctrine of Jesus for the last two years, but I could not
believe that His salvation was free. Now I understand. Some things
are too priceless to be bought or earned. Sahib, I will accept His
salvation!"