Good morning. Long ago, when my son Mike was in the 5th or 6th grade, he completed some task for me that was a sizable accomplishment. I do not remember what the job was, but when he was finished, I paid him for his labors. I am sure that the sum was not a fortune, but to a 10 or 11 year-old boy it was serious money. Naturally, being a dad, I warned him to treat his new fortune wisely, probably with some sage advice like “Don’t spend it all in one place”. Mike took that advice seriously. Instead of wasting the money on candy and comic books, he invested it. No, he didn’t take out a 401K. He found a store at the local strip mall that sold sports memorabilia, including baseball cards. The owner of the store convinced him that several of the cards he was selling would be a tremendous long-term investment. For proof, he showed Mike baseball card trade magazines which indicated that the price of each card was considerably more than what this kind merchant was willing to sell them for. Mike came home with his purchases, very proud of his shrewd business sense, and the fact that he hadn’t wasted his hard-earned cash but had invested it. I took this as an opportunity for a teaching moment. I told Mike that the value of his cards, or of pretty much anything that was for sale, was not established by what was listed in a magazine or catalogue. The value of something is established by what someone is willing to pay for it. Unless he could take his cards to another shop and sell them for their quoted value, or perhaps find some friends who had money to burn and were looking for such an investment, his cards were worth…the joy of owning them.
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 1 Peter 1:18-20
What is your value? How much was God willing to “invest” in you to have you with Him in eternity? You can’t find that answer in a trade magazine, you can only know that answer by knowing the heart of God.
God loves you so much, values you so much, treasures you so much, that He was and is willing to pay the enormous price of the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
What is your value? To God, it is immeasurable. You mean the world to Him, and He established that truth by the price He was willing to pay.
Vern