Do You Know Your "Net" Worth Before God?

"Today's Devotion" For April 6, 2006

Read: Isaiah 43:1-3; Psalm 8

DO YOU KNOW YOUR "NET" WORTH BEFORE 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)

I'm not certain what it is now, but the last time I checked (which was about 30 years ago) the total cost of all the materials - vitamins, minerals, etc. - which make up the human body was 98 cents. It's quite possible that, with inflation, that number has risen to $1.98 by this time. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, when it comes to the value of the raw materials which make up the human body, we're not worth a whole lot. Based on such an analysis, some might conclude that human life is cheap - not of any great value or worth. A good example of that reality, being played out on the world stage, is the apparent disregard for human life which Saddam Hussein had as he committed acts of genocide and other crimes against humanity. In the history of the Twentieth Century we remember the Pol Pot in Cambodia (now Kampuchea) and their acts of genocide; the Nuremberg Trials which revealed the extent of the Nazi's disregard of human life; reports of Japanese "medical" experiments on prisoners of war which were revealed in captured World War II documents.

Yet, as horrific as these people and their actions were, in their sum and substance they are no different from what we see on the streets of our cities every day. Drug dealers push their poison on hurting people with no regard for the worth of those lives their drugs threaten - only the value of the "product" they sell.. People get in arguments and leave the scene, only to return a few minutes to a few hours later with a weapon in hand to "settle" the dispute with gunfire - leaving one or more dead or dying. "Road rage" has become yet another indicator of how little worth is placed on the lives of others, as fists, bats, tire irons, vehicles, and guns are used to "settle the score" for a slight received on the streets and highways of our nation. Children go missing from our cities' streets for no apparent reason, many of them never to be seen alive again. Abortion, euthanasia, chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons of mass destruction, acts of terrorism and warfare in many places around the world continue to reinforce the idea that human life really isn't worth all that much.

What a different picture God gives us about our "net" worth to Him. Our Creator doesn't see us as "bags of bones," "amalgams of vitamins and minerals, " or objects of exploitation. Nor does He look at us and measure us by our intellectual capacity, our financial net worth, our degrees, inventions, positions, or prestige. Our looks aren't important to Him, nor does He value us any less whether we are hale and hearty or sick and achy. Our worth to Him has nothing to do with our age. Instead, as our Father in heaven, He lets us know that we are worth the very life of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, on the Cross. What's even more incredible is that God's determination of the worth of a human being isn't based upon a person's love for and belief in God, only God's love and compassion for each person.

Do you know your "net" worth before God? Perhaps there's no more important question for any human being to answer, for each person's answer reflects how they see themselves in relation to God. God calls each human being to know that our "net" worth is the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Our "net" worth as human beings is God's redemption of us in Jesus Christ from Sin, Death, and Satan. Our "net" worth in God's eyes is that He knows us from our mothers' wombs (Ps. 139:13), for we are the very work of His hands - hands that became human flesh and touched people with compassion, forgiveness, healing, and love. God's hands - the hands of Jesus Christ - also showed our "net" worth in His eyes as they were both folded in prayer and nailed to the Cross. Know that you are so precious in God's sight that He required the life of His one and only Son, Jesus, to bring us back to Him so that we might know His love and live with Him forever. Such is our "net" worth before God.

Prayer: Father, thank You for declaring my "net" worth to You by sending Jesus to take on my human flesh, be perfectly obedient to You for me, and to go the way of the Cross - though innocent of any crime and sinless - bearing my sins upon His head and suffering the punishment of Your wrath toward Sin in my place. Keep me ever mindful that the only One whose opinion about my worth that matters is You. As Jesus gave His life on the Cross for my sins and the sins of the whole world, help me to live a life filled with the knowledge that I am precious in Your sight - that my "net" worth to You is Jesus given His all for me. Lead me to share that great Good News with others so they, too, might come to know how valuable they really are to You, their Creator and Redeemer. Hear me gracious Father for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2006 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.