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Things of Value
A painting sold recently for 179 million dollars. Someone put a great deal of value on that painting by Picasso but to me, a person of no knowledge of art, it looks like blobs of paint on a canvass. We place value on many things in our lives: homes, cars, jewelry, Apple watches, and many other things that will break, wear out, or are stolen [Mt. 6:19]. We spend years, blood, sweat, and tears to educate ourselves so we can earn a living and provide for our families and those in need [I Thess. 1:11, 3:10].
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," I Peter 2:7 (NAS95). The apostle Peter uses this passage to contrast the inestimable value of Jesus Christ to the things of the world. Three times in the first seven verses he uses the word precious to describe the One chosen by God. However, men rejected Him as having no value, not worthy to be given a place of honor or importance and despised, treated shamefully all the way to the cross.
There are times and events in our lives that may cause us to pause a moment, to stop and think about our lives and our time here on earth, to think about how things are going for us. Sometimes there are events that bring us into position to approach the worth of what we have. We may need to be hungry to appreciate fully the value of food; we may need to feel the cold winter wind to appreciate the warm clothes we have, and sickness or disease to give us a far greater appreciation for the health we have.
To see the true value of Jesus Christ, we must "SEE" that we are poor, helpless, dying sinners. Have we, like the builders of old, "rejected" Christ, who offered us [poor, helpless, dying sinner] a way of escape from this lost dying state?
Many people spend a great deal of time, and effort for physical fitness, which is a good practice to maintain a healthy state; however, even in that, fitness is something we do not own. [I Cor. 6:16]
The only thing of value that we have is our soul! What value do we place on our own? What action are we taking to protect our only asset of value?
Remember you were brought with a price, a very high price: [I Cor. 6:20] the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, our Savior. Most of the world today has rejected this most valuable gift from the God of heaven, Jesus Christ.
Each one of us is demonstrating how much value we place on serving the Lord by our actions. Do we honor Him, respect and reverence Him OR do we reject Him to the point that we have chosen to give Him the ultimate insult of ignoring Him? II Pet. 2:20-22
What is protecting your most valuable asset, your soul?
