The Value Of A Man

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

Psalm 8:4

A certain rich man died and the question was asked at his funeral, “How much did he leave?”

“He left it all,” came the reply.

Often, I hear someone introduced this way: “This is Bob, and he works for . . . ,” as if where a person works determines his or her value. I have noticed that it is usually only the well-to-do or those who are thought of as “successful” who are introduced this way.

Yet God does not judge us by success. He loves each person the same because your value and mine does not come from what we do or have, the clothes we wear, the house in which we live, or the type of car we drive. Our value comes from the fact that God made us and Christ died for us. And so, whether we have things or not, we are just as valuable to God.

God gave all that He had—His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—because He valued us so highly, even when we did not value Him. Since God thought this much of us, shouldn’t we show that we value Him by putting Him first in all that we do—our family life, our business life, our spiritual life?

There is a song which says, “Put Jesus first in your life, let Him handle all the problems that come your way . . . you have searched in vain for something; now you don’t want that something you’ve found. Put Jesus first in your life, and turn your life around.”

The actual value of an object is that which is placed on it by the owner or buyer.

God has shown the value He has placed on you by sending His Son to redeem you.

Our Father and our God, I bow humbly before You, remembering my total dependence on You. Without You I am nothing, but because of Your Son I am sanctified, I am justified, I am saved. Thank You for valuing me enough to sacrifice Jesus in my place. I am Yours because of the blood of Your blessed Son, Jesus. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.