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Since you are so precious in my sight
What is a person worth? A tricky question indeed. There are athletes who are worth nearly 100,000 dollars a day to their teams. Some companies consider their managers to be worth many millions of dollars every year. Yet other people do not seem to be worth a thing-that is how dramatically different the supposed worth of a person can be. The purely "material worth" of a person is very low. We consist of mostly water, a few hundred grams of lime, carbon, nitrogen, a bit of sulphur, a few grams of various metals, and several milligrams of other elements. But when it comes to acquiring a donated organ, it becomes quite clear that life is infinitely valuable and that this value far exceeds the "material value" of a heart, liver, or kidney.
People in love are very precious in each other's estimation. Men have built entire castles in order to impress the object of their adoration and claim her for themselves. A great deal of time is sacrificed because a person is considered precious by the one who loves him or her. But woe betide should love ever cease. In such cases many have been thrown away as though they were worthless trash. The value of a person is deceptive indeed.
Young girls save their pocket money for an entire year and drive great distances only to spend it all trying to catch a fleeting glimpse of their idol-and maybe manage to get an autograph-along with a horde of likeminded young people. This adored personage is worth it to them. Years later they often laugh about their behaviour and throw the singer's CD's into the garbage can-now worthless.
But people also see themselves in completely different ways. One might have an extremely bad sense of self-worth, while another overrates himself beyond measure. Human standards of value are seldom fair and are subject to constant fluctuations. And the measure of value we assign people certainly does not always agree with the value God assigns them. This is understandable, given that we judge people by that which we see. We are often only interested whether someone is attractive, successful, rich, or powerful. But God looks deeper than that. He sees people in their entirety. He told this clearly to Samuel, when the prophet was to anoint a king in the house of Jesse: "For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." David, the youngest son of the household-who had not been allowed to leave his sheep-tending duties and had not been invited to the great sacrificial feast by his father-was the very one whom the Lord had chosen and deemed worthy to be king in Israel.
Sometimes we do not believe that God thinks so highly of us. Then we feel like Moses or John the Baptist. When God gave Moses the task of leading his people out of the hands of Pharaoh, Moses only thought about his weaknesses and impediments. John the Baptist did not even feel he was worthy to carry the shoes of the Lord. That is also why at first he refused Jesus when the latter came to him and asked to be baptised. John could not believe that he was worthy to perform this service upon the Lord.
We will not always recognise in all situations of life how valuable we are in the eyes of the Lord. It becomes difficult when friends, relatives, colleagues, and superiors make us feel: "Your worth has sunk dramatically in my eyes. Actually, you are no longer precious to me," leaving one or the other with the feeling that God has abandoned him.
But God remains persistent: "You are precious in my eyes. I love you and have chosen you to be my child. I have given my greatest possesion-my Son-so that you may live."
This high esteem and love of God can carry us through, particularly at times when others make us feel we are no longer worth anything at all. In the eye of your heavenly Father you have great value. Yesterday, today, and in all eternity.
Our Family; Volume 52, Number 10, October 2006
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