I can just hear your thoughts. "Trash vs. Gold? There is no comparison. Gold is where it's at. Who wants trash?" When you look at these two pictures there is no comparison. I would go for the gold too. But here is the problem. Many of us feel that we are more like the second picture than the first one. Many of us feel trashy, or at least not much better than trash. Many of us try and try and may even try and make others think that we believe we are valuable, but deep down, we often don't. We lie to ourselves. But if most of us are honest we would have to agree that we are not anywhere close to gold, but much closer to trash.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have probably heard the saying: "God doesn't make junk." But the problem is that we believe it, but yet tell ourselves that we may not be junk, but are not much better than junk. But have you ever thought about what God has says about each of us in His Word? Have you searched the scripture to see what he has to say about your worth? It is in there. First look at Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship..." Now let's look at the word workmanship for a moment. Some versions have instead masterpiece. What is a master piece? According to Webster's dictionary it is "a work done with extraordinary skill; especially: a supreme intellectual or artistic achievement." In other words, it is worth great value, worth much not only to the maker, but to all who look upon it. Often masterpieces are a one of a kind and are priceless. Not garbage, not junk, but worth tremendous value. Look back at Ephesians 2:10, some versions say we are God's creation.
Before we go any further, let's look at what the original word and meaning of the word translated as workmanship, masterpiece, and creation. The original Greek word here is poiema. It is the same word found in Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made..." The inference here is that everything made by God has been made to declare who God is, and declare His power and nature. Did you get that? YOU have been made to show the rest of creation who God is and how powerful He is and What he is like. That does not say junk or barely better than junk to me. That says value. That says that we are ALL made to not show each other that God is God and and that He makes us in such a way that we are valuable to His plan and purposes.
I don't want to stop there. I want to go further. When I found that Eph. 2:10 has also been translated as God's creation, my thoughts went back to Genesis 1:26 and 27 which says: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Did you see that? We are created in God's image and likeness. He didn't just say it once; in these two verses He said it repeatedly. Look at it again and count the number of times. 1)"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, 2)in our likeness, ... 3)So God created man in his own image, 4) in the image of God he created him; 5) male and female he created them." Did you get it? Not once, not twice, but 5 times God stated that he made us in His image. When God repeats something over and over, especially right in the same passage, its important. It's important because we have lost that sense of value because of sin, because of the sin of others.
You are worth it. You are worth ALL that He has done for you. In fact, He values you more than gold. How can I say that? Let's look at Revelations 21:18-21: "The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, ..." These verses describe the city He made for us, or as we know it, Heaven. Did you see what the city was made of? Precious stones, giant pearls, with the pavement being gold. Yes gold. Not just crowns, but the streets we will walk on will be gold. We are that precious and valuable to Him.
Even better than all of this, He allowed Himself to die in our place on a cross so that we could have the opportunity to discover our value, our worth. He loves all of us enough to do this. He made us valuable and so we always will be valuable. Knowing all of this, why would we want to do things that make us less valuable in our estimation? Why would we not want to be follow Him and be his friend and follower? After discovering all of this, I like Paul want to say even more now than ever "I want to know Christ" (Phil. 3:10).
Lord. I pray for all those that read this that may feel they have little to no value. I ask that something I have said here will impact them and change their life in way that helps them see how valuable they really are.
