Whose Value?

 

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:31

 

As I was putting my daughter to bed one night when she was five she said to me, “Daddy’s odd isn’t he?” One illustration of this is that he considers economics a hobby.

I have learned a lot from him. It is interesting to me to think that money – and everything else – only has value as we impute it. If we give a dollar no value – then it would have no value.

Scriptural Economics 

After becoming a Christian, he pointed out to me that we use economic terms to talk about our salvation. Though I had heard the terms used I had not really thought about it. “We were bought at a price.” “We have been redeemed.” “Christ paid the debt for our sin.”  We use the same terms about purchases and spending, as we do our salvation.

When we look at our salvation and faith in the light of these biblical descriptions, we see the value that God has imputed onto individual lives. He loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to save us from our sins – to redeem us from the debt for sin that we have lived

Values

I cannot imagine that God would place such a high value on my life that He would allow His own Son to die for me, but that is the truth. His death on the cross paid the debt for my pride, my lies, my gossip, my greed, and all the rest of my sin. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.”  He died once for all people according to Hebrews 9:26.

Many resist the truth that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that God has provided the Savior. They go to church, get confirmed or baptized, and try to keep from being too bad, but they are never convicted of sin or repent. Their sin is more precious to them than God.

Abundant Life

What value are you and I placing on our sin today? Is it easier to keep Jesus at arm’s length than to admit the sin and ask Him to take the punishment? It might seem like it but consider the value that God has placed on our lives.

As His children, saved by the grace of His payment of our debt for sin, we can see all that He offers. He calls it the abundant life. This isn’t necessarily financially abundant. God promises love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self –control, to those that will value Christ more than sin, who believe that Jesus’ death was in their place.

So, today, as God’s children, we need to take a close look at the value we have placed on the sin in our own lives. What have we placed at a higher value than obedience to God? Is that sin really worth more than the abundant blessings of obeying Him?