Go With Me Weekly Devotional

April 27, 2010

Go With ME

Embracing our Sacred Responsibility with Christ

My Value to God

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 (ESV)

  I read a book awhile back about a man taking a motorcycle trip alone, as he traveled from the United States to the southernmost tip of South America.  Needless to say, the guy faced many perils on his trip, including being kidnapped.  The criminals attempted to extort money from any source that would pay for this man’s return.  The problem was that this man had no one who was able or willing to help him.  He was eventually released because of a political agreement to cease the practices.  However, after it was over, I can’t help but think the man had to reflect about his life, his relationships, and most of all, his value to the people in his life.  Why would I think this? Because like it or not, the extortionists had fixed a value on the man’s life, but his friends and family concluded they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay the ransom being demanded.  How would this make you feel if it were you, to realize your life was not worth redeeming?  Certainly it would be a wake-up call for most of us to conclude that no one valued our life enough to pay a ransom to save it.  What a sad realization.  What a sad thought to live with every day. On the other hand, there is the loving father whose precious son is kidnapped.  When receiving the ransom demands, the father interrupts the extortionist by saying, “There is no need to negotiate about the price to redeem my son.  I will give you all that I have or will ever have, and even my own life, if you will return my son safely to his family.”  Based on this response, what value does this loving father place on his child?  It is clear his son means more to him than anything he has, or will ever have, even his own life.  As for the son who is redeemed, what is the likely perspective he will have growing up?  Surely, he will have the solid foundation of knowing his father’s love is sacrificial.  He knows his father doesn’t just talk the talk, but he walks it.  The son knows, without a shadow of a doubt, the place he has in his father’s heart.  This causes him to approach his own life with confidence, assurance and the integrity he has seen demonstrated by his father.  I think the child would have a leg up on the people around him, for this kind of rare love creates a security in a man that cannot be produced by anything less than such sacrificial love. As we compare the two kidnapped victims, we see one man who would feel devalued, even valueless to the people in his life.  This man lives with a feeling of worthlessness, likely for the rest of his life.  The other kidnapped victim, who was redeemed by his father, should have the assurance that he is valued, and as a result, has a significant life to live.  If he truly understands the great sacrifice his father made for him, it will give him a perspective that will help him power through many challenges life will present him.  However, the big questions for the son are:  “Will he connect the investment his father made in him to how much the father loves him and values him?  Will the son, in turn, live a life worthy of his redemption and allow this realization to radically empower the rest of his life?  Will he also invest in other people, giving them the same value he received?”  You would think he would, and his father certainly deserves to see his son live this kind of life?  These are good questions for the son.  But this devotional is not written to the son.  Rather, it is written to you.  So, ask yourself, “If I have been redeemed by the Ransom God paid for me, how does this radically change my perspective about myself and others?   Am I allowing this perspective to be a foundational assurance in my life that I am loved by God so overwhelmingly, I never need to doubt my value to Him, my significance to Him, or His purpose for my life?” This past week I was asked by a friend to write a devotional pertaining to a man’s significance in Christ.  This friend, like many of you, has been going through a process of refinement, one when God’s fires of purification seem to never end.  This process is essential, for it will eventually produce a bountiful harvest in his life that cannot be produced any other way.  Even so, with weary voices we often ask, “Will this ever end?  Does God love me?  Does He even like me?  Am I significant to Him and His purpose?”  I know what my brother is going through for I’ve been there myself.  I might even be there now.  But we cannot give up.  When we go through those purifying times, we must not give into self-pity or discouragement for God has a plan in the works for our purification.  He values us too much to not have a plan for us.  His sacrificial love for us, and theRansom paid for our redemption, assures us of this. There are other reasons we get discouraged, and this is where we need to remember to Whom we belong, and the Ransom He paid for our redemption, so we can power through this discouragement.  We must never forget the reality of living in a world that is wounded and damaged by sin, full of wounded and damaged people, who are stepping on each other’s backs to get to the top of a meaningless “mountain” that promises them everything they can want. Believers often buy into this “mountain trek,” and the treasures it promises, and this leads us to unnecessary discouragement.  This mountain is called “prosperity” by some, “advancement” by others, but by in large, it is called “survival” by most people.  Most people who live in this world wake up every day fighting to live, and if they die, they know they will be hauled to a non-descript grave, quickly disposed of, and forgotten.  Little wonder, we see cultures in our world putting so little value on human life and human rights, for they feel little value for others or even themselves. If a believer swallows the lie about this “Mountain,” he is being led astray, and discouragement will quickly follow. If I am ever asked to speak or write about the subject of our significance in Christ, my mind immediately drifts to the passage in the Bible where Jesus stated that He is the ransom.  Now allow this thought to soak in, if you want to really know if God loves you.  Jesus was the ransompaid by God the Father to redeem you.  He redeemed you and me by paying the greatest Ransomever paid for a human being.  He paid the best His kingdom had to offer.  Jesus was the Ransompaid to redeem God’s child who had been kidnapped by a criminal angel.  We should never forget this.  We should undergird every thought that processes through our minds with the reflection, “God values me, and I am significant, for I have been redeemed by the greatest Ransom ever paid.”   This will shake us out of our self-pity and will block the Accuser’s voice. Why would we forget this, especially since it is God’s proof to us that we are significant to Him? There’s a reason.   I believe God’s family gets so caught up in the affairs of the world and the value system of the world, we forget to see the true value we are to our King.  In doing so, we lose an important distinction in the way we value other people, and even ourselves.  The world values its people based on wealth, prominence, celebrity, influence and power.   God values us based on the fact He created us, what He paid for us, and what we become, as we draw closer to Him and allow Him to transform our life. I am reminded of the movie, Les Miserables.  There is a scene when Monseigneur Bienven had been robbed and beaten by the criminal Jean Valjean.  Valjean was caught and returned by the police to confirm the robbery.  Instead of condemning the man, the Bishop added his silver candlesticks to Valjean’s bag of stolen silver.  Then the Bishop drew Valjean close to him and whispered:   “Forget not, never forget that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.... Jean Valjean, my brother,  you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!”   What I loved about this scene was that it exemplified God’s redemption of a person who comes to Him through Jesus, the Ransom.  The Bishop deserved justice because of what Valjean had done, which would have thrown the thief back in prison.  But he didn’t choose justice.  The Bishop could have chosen to offer mercy to Valjean, by having the silver retrieved and by not pressing charges.  But, he didn’t choose mercy.  Instead, the Bishop gave Valjean grace, by allowing him to keep the silver and adding even more to the bag of stolen loot.  Then, he blessed him with the opportunity for a new life.  I said the scene reminded me of God’s redemption.  God didn’t give justice to His children, or else, we would all deserve hell.  He didn’t limit His love to mercy, for if He did, we would only escape getting justice, but nothing else.  Instead God has given us grace. He figuratively threw in the “Silver Candlesticks,” to add to His mercy and grace.  He has redeemed us by the best Heaven had to offer, through the ransomed life of Jesus, and He has given to us a life, fully loved and accepted by Him.  He is involved with His children constantly. Nothing escapes His eye.  He nurtures us to grow into the likeness of His Son.  This process can be painful at times, but it remakes us, rather than destroys us.  This process is extremely important to God and to us, for like Valjean, we are given an opportunity to live out our redemption to the world around us and help others find their redemption. In the story, Les Miserables, we see what redemption did for Valjean, as he became a wealthy, kind, merciful, and gracious man.  He came to bless the man who blessed him by helping fund the ministry of the Bishop.  He also helped the poor, by using his wealth to bless them.  He lived out his redemption.  Certainly the man’s personal significance was a result of his redemption. Likewise, God’s redemption of us is the most powerful and meaningful reason why we should feel significant, for we are significant to Him. How is a Christian man significant?  It is not because of his wealth, prestige, or the way the world values a man.  First and foremost, we are significant to God because of His sacrificial love for us and what He paid to redeem us.  We are also significant because of what we become as we live out our redemption.  It is essential that we live out our redemption, if we want to feel significant. Therefore, if you are beaten down by the world’s value system, praise God, for in the same manner was His beloved Son treated.  If you are in the midst of a spiritual battle, thank God, for your redemption has placed you on God’s side, against His enemy.  If you are in the fire of refinement, understand the truth that He is perfecting you into a man after His own heart.  If you feel discouraged by the challenges being placed on your lifestyle after you’ve committed to walk more closely with Christ, be encouraged, for He is in the process of removing hindrances and burdens getting in the way of your journey.  It will lead to great blessings, and you must trust Him more deeply.  If you ever need to be reminded of how significant you are, get alone with your King and ask Him.  Listen closely to the still, small voice, whispering an answer to your question.  You will likely hear words spoken to your heart saying:   “You are My beloved child.  You are a member of My Royal Priesthood.  You are a joint heir with My Son, Jesus Christ.  What more proof of my love would you need, in order to believe you are significant to Me?  Let not the enemy of your soul, and the value system he has created, ever convince you otherwise.  If you want to be even more convinced of knowing your significance to Me, join with Me in living out your redemption to your world around you.  Then you will see the significant difference you can be to a world that is longing to come to their own redemption.”   Redeemed by the Ransom, Rocky If you would like to download a copy of this devotional, please CLICK HERE.