Recognizing Our Value

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.  What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” (Matthew 18:10-14 NIV)

We have probably all done it at least a few times in our lives.  Many of us have done it frequently, and some basically have it as our state of mind.  We think we have little value in this world.  Our looks don’t compare to those who faces (and bodies!) grace the covers of popular magazines.  We don’t have the talents of others we know.  And we aren’t as popular among our peers.  It is easy to feel lost and alone in the world in which we live.

This parable is most often used to talk about evangelism; that we shouldn’t stay in our Christian bubbles, but go outside and reach the lost.  But it has a broader context.  Jesus was saying everyone has value, not just the Christian, not just the lost.  In other words, I have value and you have value.  There is no one on this planet that is without value. There is none for which the Lord would not leave the flock and pursue if they became lost.  

It is so easy in these days when the external is the focus and what we look like and what we achieve is the basis of our worth, to look in the mirror and see staring back at us something of little or diminished value. Yet the One who made us would go to the ends of the earth in search for us if we became lost.  Our absence would not go unnoticed.  We are THAT valuable to Him! 

Today, know that person you see in the mirror is of great worth to the Lord.  No matter what you look like or how insignificant your life seems to be, He values you.  And if you feel lost, know it won’t be long before help arrives.  He is already looking for you.

© Jim Musser 2016