When we have our Sunday family dinners we often use paper plates. Sometimes one of the children may ask “Do you want us to save these paper plates?” No, we don’t save them, there not special to us, we just discard them. We throw them away, they no longer have value. Now imagine that we are eating from Debbie’s china that her mother passed it on to her, and one of the children say “Should I throw this away like the paper plates?” No matter how tired my wife might be she would quickly go to them and say “No, these have great value to me, we must carefully hand wash them!”
What’s the difference? Paper plates are cheap, practically worthless. So we throw them away. On the other hand fine china is expensive, especially if it is a family heirloom; it’s too valuable to throw away. So we must ask ourselves “Which one of these do I feel like I am, a throw away worthless paper plate or a valuable, desirable piece of fine china?”
I think often times the devil tries to make us feel like worthless “paper plates”. We get put down, hurt, neglected, ignored, backstabbed, abused, and made to feel worthless. We may even feel like throwing ourselves away. Maybe we’ve been doing that by not trying or just giving up; here’s what’s so tragic about it, God didn’t make us worthless “paper plates”! If we think we’re not worth much, we’re wrong about whom we are. Anyone who has treated us like we’re not worth much doesn’t know who we are either. The one who knows what we are is the One who gave us our life in the first place – our Creator. And here’s how He feels about us. Exodus 19:5, “You will be my treasured possession.” God says we are a treasure; we are fine china! We’re not trash! We’re too valuable to throw away, but there’s more in God’s appraisal of what we’re worth. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s workmanship.” Now, workmanship isn’t thrown together, it’s no accident, it’s not random. We’re a masterpiece; we’re a handmade creation of a God who only does beautiful work. And then it goes on to say in that verse that we are designed,“…for good works He prepared in advance for us to do.” But there’s more. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought at a price, therefore honor God with your body.” God says we’re His treasure, His workmanship, and the one He paid a great price for.
You can tell how much a person values something by how much they’re willing to pay for it. Well, God paid for us with the blood of His one and only Son, Jesus, He wanted us so much He sent His Son to pay the death penalty in our place. We are very valuable!
So don’t believe the devil’s lie that tells us we’re a “paper plate”, that we’re worthless, that keep tempting us to throw ourselves away. We are fine china! We’re to be reserved for special purposes. If we feel like we’re not worth much, then it’s time to pay a visit to the cross where Jesus Christ died for us. That’s how much God thinks we’re worth – the life of His Son.
WE MUST LIVE LIKE THE TREASURE THAT OUR CREATOR SAYS WE ARE…
-Bill Stockham