When I go to Tesco or Sainsburys or Asda ( I go to them all :) ) and cruise round the discount counters the food I shop for is usually on its sell by date. Some people wont buy food on its sell by date - to them, no matter how cheap it is, that food is without value because freshness is more important than price. But I dont care about sell by dates, I value price over an arbirtary date set by someone in a health and safety laboratory somewhere. :) So the cheaper the price the more value to me. Today the estate agent came round to value our house. And he was at a bit of a loss. Because our house is a one off. There is nothing like it in the village and therefore trying to determine its value is tricky. Something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. An estate agent usually has lots of comparisons they can make with similar properties within the area and their knowledge of the market. But sometimes its a bit of a guess. What is this house worth?Sometimes value is not about monetary price tags but about emotional investment. Our most prized possession might not be something expensive, it might be a poem written for us by our five year old. Or a piece of clothing passed down to us by a special person. It might be a photograph which reminds us of a special time in our life or an item which was dear to someone who has since died. To someone else these things would be without meaning and therefore without value. But to us they are special. Even the most ruthless minimalist makes emotional associations with things sometimes.
SO you know what Im going to say now dont you? That you are only worth what someone was prepared to pay for you and Jesus was prepared to forsake heaven, the communion of angels, the company of the Father and die a brutal death on a cross, bearing all your sin and shame because you are worth it. But not only that. Jesus places a high value on you for all the things that make you YOU. Not just because you are a member of a fallen race who is in need of redemption. But because He knows you intimately and highly esteems those things about you which make you utterly unique. You are the letter from the five year old to His father heart. You are the precious object of His affection passed down through generations of people He loved very much. You are a reminder to Him of all the special moments He has spent with you.
Sometimes I think that we tell ourselves that Jesus died for us out of a sense of obligation to the Father. To fulfil the divine plan. Because He didnt have a choice. But I actually think He did it because He valued each of us SO highly, loved us SO much, counted us as so precious that He was prepared to stop at nothing to show us how He felt. Feels. Right now , today, that is how He still feels about me and about you.
Valuable. Your price tag. Wear it with pride.
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