He was only in Kindergarten when he came home and told his mother that he is "neek". She didn't understand so she pressed him for more information. He said that the teacher had told him that he is "neek". He is special. His mother understood that the word that he was referring to was "unique". The teacher was telling him that he was unique, special and positively different from the others.
Indeed, we are all unique individuals who are very special in the eyes of God. We are so valuable that God sent His only won to earth to identify as one of us, take our burden of sin and guilt and die on the cross as the punishment for all that we had done. That means that even as valuable as an only Son (Jesus) is to his Father (God), you and I are even more valuable! If God considers you that valuable, how should you and I regard others around us?
One of the messages that Jesus is trying to communicate to us is that we are each very valuable to Him and to God. In Luke 15:1-32, Jesus makes a three-fold effort to communicate how valuable you and I are to God. He is trying to tell us that God wants us to love and follow Him and that we are more valuable than the illustrations given. We should seek to win each other as much as God is seeking to win us!
More Valuable than Animals - Luke 15:1
First, we are more valuable than the animals. Sheep will easily become lost if there is not a fence to hem them in or shepherd to watch over them. Like sheep, we are easily distracted and attracted to things that are harmful to us (like sexual immorality, pursuit of worldly things, being entertained, etc.). As a sheepherder will search for a lost sheep, God is searching to find those who will follow Him. This is a challenge for us to go and search for others who do not know Jesus and seek to tell them about Him so that they can come into the place of safety and security.
More Valuable than Money - Luke 15:
Second, we are more valuable than all the money in the world. Money has a unique power and influence over most people. Nelson D. Rockefeller was once asked how much money would be enough. He said, "One dollar more than I have now". People have been killed over as little as fifty cents. Many people have an attitude of greed and covetousness and materialism that makes money their god. God puts more effort into trying to find the lost and lead them to Jesus than you or I have ever put into finding a lost sum of money. We likewise consider those who are not Christians like lost coins. We are looking for the lost so that we can tell them about Jesus and they can be "found"!
More Valuable Even When We Reject Him - Luke 15:
Third, we are still valued even when we have rejected our Father. The wayward son finally came to the realization that he had made a mistake and repent of his dishonoring of his father. When he returned to his earthly father, there was a great celebration because this son now realized that father was right. Mankind was once a part of God's eternal Kingdom (for only a very short while). Then sin came in, we all have engaged in it from the point in our childhood where we realized the difference between right and wrong, and have thus separated ourselves from God just as Adam and Eve did. In that context, we have all been the "prodigal son". Praise God that most of you who are reading this have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and, in that context, have returned home where you are loved, welcomed, cared for and safe.
The point that I see in all of this is that you are so valuable to God that He is doing everything that He can, short of forcing you, to win you over as one of His saints. He created us to love and gave us the freedom to choose to love Him. This freedom means that He had to restrain His power in certain areas so that we could choose to follow Him for ourselves.
God bless as you continue "Getting To Know Jesus"!
These articles are related to the "Getting To Know Jesus" Bible study series, a non-denominational Bible study that is written to help you become more like Jesus! Jesus is a role model and a testimony of God's best being given to us!
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Glen Copple is an ordained minister who has over 25 years of preaching and teaching experience in ministering to non-denominational churches. In 1983, he earned a Master of Arts in Ministry from Pacific Christian College (now Hope International University) in Fullerton, CA, and has had ministries in Kansas, Missouri, and California
In previous ministries, Pastor Glen taught through the Life of Christ and developed the structure for "Getting To Know Jesus" He knew that God led him to put his years of ministry and Bible study to work to share with you, your family and friends in this non-denominational study of Jesus Christ, his life and teachings
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