2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 37

Matthew 13:45-46

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

    A Rolex Oyster Daytona Cosmograph reference 6239 came up for sale at the Phillips Bacs & Russo auction in November of 2017. The watch mentioned was given to Paul Newman by his wife of fifty years, Joanne Woodward. Paul Newman was not only a great actor he was also passionate about auto racing and the watch’s chronograph function would have been very useful. The price of the watch in 1964 was $210 and was a slow seller when it came out. Rolex had a difficult time selling the 6239 through their network of authorized dealers even though the watch was beautiful with its “Panda” dial consisting of black subdials on a white background. The stagnant sales began to change when Newman was featured in an Italian magazine wearing the Rolex. Beginning in the early 1980’s the watch’s popularity soared and by the 1990’s any 6239 that came up for sale was quickly snatched up. In the last decade, any reference 6239 in great condition was a six figure watch. The Rolex Daytona had become so identified with Paul Newman that the reference 6239 became known as the “Paul Newman”. Over the last 20 years or so there has been a revival of sorts for mechanical watches. Prices have soared incredibly in the vintage sector of watch collecting especially among the Swiss manufacturers like Patek Phillipe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemar Piguet, and of course, Rolex. If a watch has provenance the price escalates exponentially. Paul Newman’s actual “Paul Newman” Rolex reference 6239 is just such a watch. The Rolex watch set an all time record as it sold for $15.5 million. After adding in the auction house premium the final price was $17.76 million. Not a bad investment at all.
If people would have known that a Rolex worn by Paul Newman that cost $210 in 1964 would be worth over $17 million today I doubt that there would have been a problem finding people who would buy the watch. In fact, people would have sacrificed much to obtain such a watch.

    In our Bible passage, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a pearl that has such value that a man who would find such a pearl would leverage EVERYTHING he owned to obtain it. This merchant knew the value of such a pearl would only increase through time. Do you understand that God’s kingdom that we acquire through Jesus is worth you doing everything possible to obtain it? Do you understand that the worth of the kingdom is so great that all of eternity exhausted would not begin to bring us to its value? What is that value? What value would you put on eternal life in perfect fellowship with God? God put a value on it, the life of his only Son. Yet we may obtain this kingdom not by purchasing it, nor by working to gain it. We exchange our life for the life of the Lord Jesus Christ’s. In other words, we die to ourselves and receive the life of Jesus by faith. I am amazed at what people will spend to acquire a one-of-a-kind object in our world yet ignore eternity. Make sure that when the Lord reveals the kingdom to you that you leverage his life to obtain it.

In Christ,

John