You are of infinite worth...

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Today's Devotional Thought:

 Psalm 8:3-4, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?"

 1 Peter 1:18-19, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."

Does ninety dollars seem like a lot of money? A new reading tablet or a piece of home fitness equipment might be a steal at that price. On some days, ninety dollars can buy you a day at Disney World. Or, it may be a night out for you and your family.

Or ninety dollars could be the value of your entire life. According to SumAll.org the average worldwide cost of a trafficked human is just ninety dollars. That's what this world values you at—ninety dollars. Does it make you feel a bit cheap?

When the Psalmist looked towards the heaven, in a day and age when light pollution was next to nil and the night sky was brilliantly bathed in celestial glory, and he realized that God had created all that just so we might exist, he was dumbfounded by the value God places on each and every person. His response was, "What is man that God should care for him so?" In other words, "Hasn't God overpaid?"

God must not think so. God upped the ante. He sent his Son. Jesus came to free us. He once said, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:34-36). Every person is a slave for we all have sinned and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) and sin has enslaved us. Jesus bought us (to "redeem" is to buy back for a price) out of slavery. The price? Everything. A value greater than all and everything. For God paid for us with Himself.

So, what are you worth? On some level we decide. It's a matter of to whom you will give yourself to. You choose whether you will give yourself to the world or God. As James says, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God" (James 4:4). It's either or. You can have only one master. Give yourself to the world and prove yourself cheap, virtually worthless. Give yourself to God and prove yourself of infinite worth, priceless. Let the highest bidder win.

 Prayer: Holy Father, we can not begin to fathom what You see in us. We cannot begin to comprehend Your love. But if You're willing to pay such a high price You deserve to get what You paid for. You deserve all of us and nothing less. Help us to give all that we are for all that You gave. We love You. In Jesus name, amen.

"I've wasted it!"

Today's thought:

James 4:14, "...What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

In his book Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper recounts a story his father often told in his days as a fiery Baptist evangelist. It is the story of a man who came to saving faith in Jesus Christ near the end of his earthly existence. Piper writes:

"The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone's amazement he came and took my father's hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face, "I've wasted it! I've wasted it!"

By the grace of God, even a life that is almost totally wasted can still be redeemed. As the Scottish theologian Thomas Boston once said, our present existence is only "a short preface to a long eternity." If that is true, then the man's life was not wasted after all; he was only just beginning an eternal life of endless praise. But why wait even a moment longer before starting to serve Jesus? Ephesiams 5:15-16, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." You have only one life to live. Don't waste it by living for yourself when you can use it instead for the glory of God.

[Read John Piper's full book, Don't Waste Your Life, free online at, http://cdn.desiringgod.org/pdf/books_dwyl/dwyl_full.pdf]

Prayer: Father, we thank you that a life lived for You is never wasted. You redeem us and our lives from being wasted by Your grace and that grace can redeem a whole life that might have been wasted. What amazing grace that calls us into purpose, meaning and eternal existence. We praise Your name for heaven rains grace upon Your children. Let it rain today, LORD. We love you because You first loved us. In Jesus, amen.