Psalm 71:20-21 - “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more.”

I once saw an illustration in a church service that profoundly impacted me. The speaker held up a brand-new, crisp $100 bill and asked the congregation if anyone wanted it. Of course, we all shouted that we did. The speaker then scrunched the note up and jumped on it. He held it up again, only this time all scrunched up, and asked who still wanted it. Again, everyone shouted that we still wanted it.

He then described the history of that bill. He proceeded to tell us that the $100 bill had been used to buy drugs, to pay for sex with a prostitute, and then had been stolen. He finished by asking us who still wanted it. Undaunted, the entire congregation immediately raised their hands; we were all still willing to take it. We all understood that the value of money was not determined by what it had experienced or even how it looked. Its value was determined by the Treasury Department that had printed that bill. The speaker then drew the parallel between our view of the $100 bill and God’s view of a lost person.

That day, I truly began to understand that our value in God’s eyes is not determined by our past, our achievements, our failures, or our circumstances. Rather, our value is determined by the love that God has for us. That value is expressed in the fact that Jesus died on a cross for every single one of us, in spite of our shortcomings. Jesus did not wait for us to get cleaned up before rescuing us, for “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Even on our worst day, we are worth the blood of Jesus-and nothing is more valuable than that. Even if our misadventures carry us to the depths of the earth, God will restore us to honor and comfort us.
(Taken from Christine Caine’s devotional, “The Highest Value.“)

Today, let’s thank and worship the Lord for his costly comfort he showed us at the cross - how much he values us! Let his comfort overflow. How are we being led to re-arrange our lives to live for the advancing of his comfort/his kingdom?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QATVav7Vn3g

-AP