July 10 (Matthew 6:26)
Look at the birds of the air: they neither
sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
(ESV)
John 3:16
declares that He loved us so much that He sent His Son to us. Jesus Himself taught about the worth of human
beings in the verse for today and again in Matthew 10:29-31 and Matthew 12:11-12. Despite that it says in Genesis 1:26 that God
made human beings in His image, it took the life and work of Jesus to get the
world to understand that. Ponder that
for a moment in these words from the classic Christmas song “O Holy Night.”
Long
lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til
He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
Worth does not
stem from our ability to do something, as the verse for today clearly teaches. Our worth is based on not one physical or
mental attribute. Your worth, my worth,
and the worth of each person from conception to the grave is based solely on
the declaration of God, a declaration made in the act of creation itself and
the words and work of Jesus.
This means that
you have worth in the eyes of God Almighty.
And so does your cousin. And your
neighbor at the end of your street. The
same goes for your colleague. And the
people with whom you disagree most passionately on the truly important
issues. And those with whom you disagree
on the trivial stuff. The lady serving
at the food pantry? She has value. And so does the pornographer. And the one who will blow up a building
tomorrow. And the ones who will hold the
hands of the wounded and dying in the aftermath. Those who look like you, and those who don’t.
And they…we…all have worth for no other
reason than the simple fact that God made us and loves what He made. No one has made that more clear than Jesus
Christ, Who offers true and full life forever to anyone Who follows Him.
What an amazing gift of love You have shown us, O God, by proving to us our value to You through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. May we be forever grateful, savoring it completely, and sharing it with others with the same love and grace we have received. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Copyright © 2016 by Steven R. Perkins
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