The Value of Man

I'm not to much of a collector of things but I have several ticket stubs to events I went to as a young man. Mostly sport events. Several of the stubs are from the Cleveland Brown's and Cleveland Indian's games. One of them is from the championship game of 1964 when the Browns shutout the Baltimore Colts. The last championship team in Cleveland. I also have the first Monday night game stub with the New York Jets when Joe Namath came into town. Monday night football started in Cleveland, Ohio. I now have a person who is interested in purchasing these old stubs and wanted to know what is their value to me. The actual value of any object is that which is placed on it by the owner or the buyer. But what value do you place on yourself? Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Some call it a bowl of soup, others call it a bowl of stew. Nevertheless his birthright was valued pretty low. In essence he was saying that he would rather have a bowl of soup than a relationship with God Almighty. Others have sold out cheap too. We hear it and see it all the time. Man puts very little value on his soul and often is willing to sell out for a very cheap price. However, God looks at things differently. In Proverbs the price of God's wisdom is more precious than rubies. A valuable gem. In 1 Peter the genuineness of our faith is much more precious than gold that perishes. But the soul of man is different. God has shown the value He placed on each of us by sending His Son to redeem us. Not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. In the eyes of God we are so valuable to Him that He gave His very best to buy us back. God forbid that we will ever say again, "God doesn't love me." God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Every person in the world deserves to hear this. It's called "Good News." But it's never good news until it gets there on time. Lets share the love of God with others this New Year. I've challenged my church, and myself, to believe God for twelve divine appointments this year to share Jesus with others. 12 in 12, or 12 divine appointments in the year 2012. Please join us and lets see who the Lord brings into our pathways.