YOUR VALUE

The Value Is the Owner, by Alan Smith

The story is told of an American tourist in Paris who picked up an
amber necklace in a trinket shop. When he arrived at New York and went through customs he was shocked at the high duty he had to pay for
the necklace. So when he came home, he spoke with a jeweler and the
jeweler told him he would give $25,000 for the necklace. The man was
stunned and suspected that there was a reason for the offer. So he
took the necklace to an expert who appraised it at an astronomical amount.

When he asked the appraiser what made the necklace so valuable, he
told him to look into the magnifying glass and see for himself. When
he placed his eye next to the glass, he saw an inscription which read:
"From Napoleon to Josephine." It was the name on the necklace that
gave it extraordinary worth.

We have no intrinsic value above others -- that is to say, we are not
of great value because of who we are or what we've accomplished. Our
value is determined by the One who made us, bought us, and owns us.
Those of us who are Christians have the name of Christ "stamped" on
our lives to remind us who we are and whose we are. Knowledge of this
truth causes us to rethink what we do with our lives.

Look closely at the inscription on your life.

For example, if you have an old pair of ragged tennis shoes, you may
think nothing of getting out in a muddy garden to do some work. But if
you're wearing an expensive pair of dress shoes, you'll be hesitant to
wear them in the mud. The value of what you're wearing will keep you
from going certain places and doing certain things.

Paul says that's why we as Christians should avoid sexual immorality
(as well as other misuses of the body). If our bodies were of little
value (as some believe), we would think nothing of "dragging them
through the mud." But knowing the value of our bodies, we're forced to
think twice about where we go and what we do. Paul puts it this way:

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body
and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:20 NKJV).

Look closely at the inscription on your life. You'll notice the name
of the One who bought you and owns you. Your value just went up!