You have value !

"He delivered us from the power of darkness and carried us into the kingdom of the Son of his love..." Colossians 1.13

"He has predestined us in his love to be His adopted children by Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of His will..." Ephesians 1.5

If you are like me, you often see yourself with a very critical eye, thinking that God from the heavens does the same... Your condemnation is without appeal : you think in yourself : "I am not worthy !"

In fact, what does the Lord think ? Does He have the same look that judges and condemns His beloved ones ? Does he have a heart of grace, such as His grace forgives all ? Is he that complaisant friend who sees everything, but never judges ?

The love of God is jealous, He wants our whole heart for Him ! Exodus 34.14 says to us : "You shall not bow down to another god, for the LORD is called jealous, he is a jealous God."

A well-known speaker begins his seminar by holding a 50 euro note. He asks people, "Who would like to get this ticket ?" The hands start to rise, so he says :

- I'll give this 50-euro bill to one of you, but before, let me do something with it.

He then crumples the note with force, and he asks :

- Do you still want this ticket ?

The hands continue to rise.

- Okay, okay, but what if I do that ?

He throws the wrinkled note on the ground, and jumps on it, crushing it as much as possible, and covering it with dust from the floor. Then he asks :

- Who still wants to get this ticket ?

Obviously, the hands continued to rise !

- My friends, you just learned a lesson... No matter what I do with this ticket, you still want it because its value has not changed, it's still worth 50 euros !

Even if the circumstances of life have saddened you, hurt you, and even defiled you, or sin dwells in you, you still have value in the eyes of God. You are precious in His eyes because He sees you with the eyes of love, through the sacrifice of His son Jesus, who died to redeem us.

A prayer for today

Thank you Lord for this immense grace of knowing You ! Even if I stray from your ways, I always have value in your eyes as I confess my wrongs and that I come back to you ! That I do not abuse this grace to sin, but on the contrary, that it helps me every day to discover the greatness of Your love for me through the Sacrifice of your son on the cross !

Jean-Louis Gaillard

Source (The Thought of the Day)