If you watched CBS Sunday Morning this week, you saw the story on Ken Feinberg, who has the job title “Special Master” and is tasked with determining how much bailed-out bankers are paid. He had previously volunteered, after the 9/11 attacks, to decide how much money each family of victims would get from a compensation fund Congress set up. The narrator explained, “Congress ordered Feinberg to use each victim’s earnings to help establish the value of every life lost. The lives of a banker and busboy were valued differently, even though they both ended the same way.”
So earnings is one standard for determining the value of your life. What are other standards we use?
What standards do you use?
How much you have in the bank? How much life insurance you own? How many people you have working for you? How many awards or degrees you’ve received? How many friends you have? How many kids you have? How skinny you are? How smart you are? How many Bible verses you’ve memorized? How many people you’ve led to Jesus? What standards do you use to determine your worth? And what standard should we use?
Here’s what God showed me today from Acts, spoken by Paul:
I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself…
He goes on:
…if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24).
So Paul does not account his life to be of any value. Zero dollars.
Then if I account my life to be of no value, does that mean that I consider myself to be worthless? No, Paul recognizes that his worth is determined by Jesus. Only Jesus can determine our true worth. And Jesus already determined that you are worth dying for. God is saying to you, in the life and death of Jesus, “I want to be reconciled to you so much that I’m willing to die to accomplish just that.” Think about that as it applies to you for a moment.
So by which standard do you prefer to be measured when answering the question: How much are you worth? Man’s standards–money, power, beauty? Or God’s standard–His own blood? It’s not really a question; just an illustration.
In what other areas of life should you start using God’s standards rather than man’s?
rlowenfield
