Parable of the Pearl

Today I visited a singles branch were I heard a great parable from the stake President. Well technically it was "The Parable of the Pearl" given by Elder Oaks a few weeks ago to this Stake President. Actually I don't think the parable is from Elder Oaks, but he may have added to its message.

"There’s an ancient oriental legend that tells the story of a jeweler who had a precious pearl he wanted to sell. In order to place this pearl in the proper setting, he conceived the idea of building a special box of the finest woods to contain the pearl. He sought these woods and had them brought to him, and they were polished to a high brilliance. He then reinforced the corners of this box with elegant brass hinges and added a red velvet interior. As a final step, he scented that red velvet with perfume, then placed in that setting this precious pearl.

"The pearl was then placed in the store window of the jeweler, and after a short period of time, a rich man came by. He was attracted by what he saw and sat down with the jeweler to negotiate a purchase. The jeweler soon realized that the man was negotiating for the box rather than the pearl. You see, the man was so overcome by the beauty of the exterior that he failed to see the pearl of great price."

The point of Elder Oaks comments was that the Pearl is the first principles and ordinances of the gospel...faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The ornate box is all of the "other stuff" in the gospel that doesn't matter as much. Our Covenants and our relationship with our Savior is what it ultimately comes down to. I loved this parable! I need to stop focusing on the box and cherish the pearls.