January 11, 2016
You Have Value
Read:
Romans
5:6–11
You
were bought at a price. — 1 Corinthians 6:20
After my mother-in-law died, my wife and I discovered a cache of
US Indian Head pennies in a dresser drawer in her apartment. She wasn’t a coin collector,
as such, but she lived in the era when these pennies were in circulation and
she had accumulated a few.
Some of these coins are in excellent condition; others are not.
They are so worn and tarnished you can hardly see the imprint. All bear the stamp
“One Cent” on the opposite side. Although a penny these days has little value
and many consider them useless, this one-cent coin would have bought a
newspaper in its day. And collectors still find value in them, even those that
have been battered and abused.
Perhaps you feel tarnished, worn, old, or out of circulation.
Even so, God finds value in you. The Creator of the universe wants you—not for
your mind, your body, your clothes, your achievements, your intellect, or your
personality, but because you are you! He would go any distance and pay any
price to possess you (1 Cor. 6:20).
In fact He did. He came down to earth from heaven and purchased
you with His own blood (Rom. 5:6, 8-9). That’s how much He wants you. You are
valuable in His eyes, and He loves you.
As I think about Your love for me, Father, I wonder with
amazement how You could love someone like me—and I praise You.
Christ’s death is the measure of God’s love for you.
INSIGHT:
The word gospel means “good news,” and Romans
5 is the very heart of that gospel. Paul makes clear that the motive of the
gospel is that God loves us despite our sins (v. 8). The need for the gospel is
because of our sin and rebellion (vv. 8, 10). The act of the gospel is found in
Christ’s sacrificial death for the undeserving (vv. 8–10). The result of the
gospel is restored relationship with the God who created us for relationship
with Him (v. 10). That is certainly good news!
Source: Our Daily Bread 2016