We Are Valuable To God

"Today's Devotion" For April 28, 2005

Read: Isaiah 43:1-3; Psalm 8

WE ARE VALUABLE TO GOD

"But now, this is what the Lord says--He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.'" (Is. 43:1)

It seems to me that I remember that the human body, all told, had a "street value" of about ninety-eight cents. Despite what we might think of our own worth, it seems that all the minerals and substances that comprise our bodies aren't worth very much. I suppose that if we take inflation into consideration, each of us might be worth $1.98 or maybe even $2.98. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, as far as the material value of our bodies is concerned, we're just not worth a whole “heckuva” lot. In the City of Milwaukee, if I heard the number correctly on the news, we've already had five suspects die from police gunfire since the beginning of the year. That doesn't count the seven-year old girl shot and killed by young men chasing after and shooting at another man running away with his daughter in his arms. On top of that this city is already looking to exceed last year's homicide rate according to the most up-to-date statistics. Looking at the murders and mayhem committed on our cities' streets, not to speak of around the world, it seems pretty obvious that life is a very cheap commodity and of little use, at least for some. Abortion, euthanasia, chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons, terrorist acts and threats of war continue to bombard us with the idea that human life isn't worth much.

What a different picture of the value of life we get from God! Our Creator sees us as much more valuable and worthwhile than the murder and mayhem statistics would have us believe we are. It's God who defines our value. To Him we're not simply the minerals and other substances that make up our bodies. We have value because He has created us in His image and likeness. We are physical, spiritual, and thinking creatures. We are His special creation for He didn't just speak the Word and we came into being, but He personally formed us from the dust of the ground, breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, and we became living beings having souls (Gen. 2). Our Father in heaven who has created us doesn't care about our looks, our beauty, or our physique. He doesn't place value on us because of our prestige, or lack thereof. He could care less if we are among the very brightest or the least intelligent. He doesn't count us worthy or unworthy just because we're young or old, rich or poor, hale and hearty or sick and weak, whether we're in the womb or in the twilight of our lives.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He who is our Creator and seeks only our good, puts the highest possible value on us and every human being of every time and place. To show how valuable humanity is to Him, our Father in heaven deemed us worth the very sacrifice of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, on the Cross. His suffering and death paid the ultimate, final sacrifice for the sins of the world. His resurrection is God's loving declaration that Christ's sacrifice for our sins is once and for all time complete. Jesus has redeemed us, bought us back, from the curse of Sin, Death, and Satan. He has fulfilled the Law of God perfectly for us, in our place. He, who knows us from our mothers' wombs (Ps. 139:13) has declared us to be His very own. We are the very work of His hands, hands that became human flesh and were stretched out on the Cross for us, paying the price for our sins. No matter who we are, what we've done, what we look like, or how we think, He loves us and has declared us to be precious in His sight. He wants us to hear His call to us through the prophet Isaiah, and rejoice that nothing the world can do to us can reduce our value to Him for we are worth the very Blood of Christ on the Cross. We are valuable to God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You would keep me ever mindful that the only One whose opinion about my worth matters is You. Forgive me for those times where I see myself and others as not worthy of life as I treat myself and others with contempt, failing to care for myself and others in a manner that is pleasing to You. As Jesus gave His life on the Cross for my sins and the sins of the whole world, lead me to give my life in the service of others. Guide me to live a life filled with the knowledge that I am precious in Your sight. Help me to share that reality with others so they, too, might come to know how valuable they really are to You, their Creator and Redeemer. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.