Value: July 12, 2013

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY JULY 12, 2013.

VALUE

DEFINITION:

Relative worth or importance; monetary or material worth; the worth of something.

SCRIPTURE:

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

What is of value in God’s sight? God is all knowing and all powerful and has everything He needs. But He puts great value on our soul even though in comparison to God we are nothing. Sometimes we feel worthless and wonder how could we be of any value to God? God wants us to understand value from an eternal perspective.

Jesus often taught using parables. He taught the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 12:12-14. He said that if a shepherd owns a hundred sheep and one gets lost he will leave the ninety-nine to look for the one that is lost. Jesus said that the shepherd is happier about the one sheep when found than the ninety-nine others. This is the way that God feels about us. He places the same value on each of us and like the shepherd; He does not want to lose a single one of us. 

Jesus has offered us an eternal inheritance that is ours for the asking. When we recognize the value of what God did for us by sending His son to this earth to pay the penalty for our sins and then to give us eternal life, how can we reject so valuable a gift?

There are many things that are considered of value in life. God talks about the value of His people, the value of life, the value of being rich or poor, the value of a lost sheep, the eternal value of a soul, the value of a widow’s mite, the value of an eternal inheritance and the value of our faith, just to name a few.

Most of us realize the value of a healthy life. If you need to be reminded as to how valuable a healthy life is then go to your local children’s hospital and look at a few sick children. God will do something special to you like break your heart with concern for these that are hurting and you will thank God for your good health.

Most of us understand the difference between being rich or comfortable financially versus poor. If you do not then go and talk to a family living in the slums of the inner city or a homeless man sleeping on the street. God will again move your heart to compassion to help the hurting and you will thank God for the blessings He has given you.

Finally, when we think of the widow’s mite, we realize how valuable it is to our Lord when one person gives whatever he has to further His work. We cannot out give God. It has been our experience that God blesses us when we give with blessings that far and away outweigh the value of what we have given.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 2:15.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the value You have placed on my life. I take time today just to praise You. I praise You for being God, for being all powerful, all knowing and sovereign. I praise You for sending Your only Son to this earth to die in order to pay the penalty for my sins. I praise You for being with me every moment of every day and leading me in the path that You desire for me.