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Why Are You So Valuable?
Jon BurgessEvery value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel. Leviticus 27:25
Who gets to set the standard of value? God does. Not Joe Blow down the street. Not the crooked businessman in the market. Market value on a shekel is determined by one source- the sanctuary. God's house determines what's valuable for your house. In fact this whole chapter is God affixing values to everything. God is the gold standard for our standards for gold and everything else in our lives. Jesus takes this idea and brings it home with this statement in Luke 12:6-7: Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Some days you get up and feel worthless. Worth less then a sparrow sold for two pennies prehaps? We are surrounded by awards ceremonies like the Grammies and the Academy Awards that determine those who are most valuable in our American culture based on the ever present judgement assessment: "What have you done for me lately?" Good acting, good music, good speech, good dress then you get the good stamp of approval. God doesn't confer value upon us based on our actions, emotions, successes, or accomplishments. That's a values standard that changes as quickly as a celebrity marriage. With God it's not about we we have done for Him that makes us valuable, but rather what He has done for us! We aren't worth less or more in God's sight based on performance. We are valuable to Him because He made us His own and chose to love us. “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19) I think about this scruffy old stuffed lamb that my young son has. Jaxon calls him Lamby. He loves it to pieces. Literally. It's falling apart. He sleeps with it every night. He has hugged it so tight for so many years most of it's stuffing is gone. When he had the choice this week to bring a toy to school for show-and-tell guess what he chose? He passed up all of the new toys he had just received for Christmas and his birthday and choice Lamby instead. Why is Lamby the most valuable toy Jaxon has? Because Jaxon loves it. That's it. His love gives Lamby value above everything else. I'm hoping that as Jaxon grows older he grows less attached to Lamby. The good news for you and I no matter how we feel about ourselves that the Lamb of God has chosen us as His own. We are valuable because we are loved by Jesus. That's a love that will never wane. He will never grow less attached to us because we belong to Him!
Jesus, I feel like today's journal reading is one big God-sized hug from You. All of the places where I fail and fall short are squeezed out of me. In it's place is the warm feeling of knowing I am loved for eternity by the Savior of my soul!
