You Are Precious, You Are Important, You Are Valuable

It’s not surprising in these days of enormous stress and anxiety for any of us to suffer from or know of someone that struggles with feelings and thoughts of deep sadness and/or worthlessness.

Quite a few experience it as a consequence of all the physical or mental abuse they experience in their life. Others because they agonize with an incapacitating condition, are afflicted by any one of the various behavioral ailments that attack a significant number these days, have to deal with the repercussions of severe brain trauma or even simple biochemical imbalances.

No matter the cause, you must recognize that those feelings of worthlessness are a LIE!

In spite of what you may feel or even what others say to you, you truly are cherished and of great importance.

“But of importance and preciousness to whom?”, perhaps you may ask?

To our Maker.

Of Sparrows And You

“Five sparrows sell for two coins of small value, do they not?”, asked Jesus. “Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” (Luke 12:6)

In ancient times, people regarded sparrows as being of extremely low worth, nonetheless, in the sight of their Originator, they possessed significant value. Because of this, He took notice of these and consequently was keenly conscious of every last individual.

That being said, in Matthew 10:29 Christ points out that two sparrows were obtainable for just one coin of small value. This detail is meaningful because if one coin buys you two sparrows, then two coins should get you four sparrows, right? Wrong! As we just read in Luke 12:6, should you pay a pair of small coins you obtained five sparrows! They threw in the fifth sparrow for free, as if it had absolutely no worth in the slightest. But certainly not in their Creator’s sight. Each individual one was of importance to Him.

So what does this all have to do with you? Christ clarifies, “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)

The lesson is obvious. If Jehovah God took such an interest in the tiny sparrow, how much more would he care for you. For that matter, Jesus indicated to them that ‘even the hairs on their head were all numbered’! This aspect is extremely significant. Why?

Well, you may quite likely agree with me when I say that no-one loves you more than your mom/dad, right? They are acutely aware of just about every detail about every single detail about you. Why wouldn’t they? After all, they raised you from the very day you were born. Still, should you go to your mother or father and ask them how many hairs you had on your head . . . might they be capable of answering correctly? Lol :D

And yet, Jehovah knows. In truth, he knows you much more intimately than your parents or any person ever could. How can you be absolutely sure of this? By virtue of the resurrection hope he offers.

The Resurrection Hope

Job, an ancient friend of God, while in the throes of severe depression, prayed to Him in agony, “O that in the Grave you would conceal me, That you would hide me until your anger passes by, That you would set a time limit for me and remember me!” — Job 14:13

Yes, Job was so desperate to end his suffering that he begged to die. But, he also asked Jehovah to remember him afterward and bring him back to life.

Jesus said, “Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life.” (John 5:28,29)

The resurrection. Let’s ponder for just a few moments precisely what this must entail for our Maker. So as to reconstruct one who had long been dead, he’d need to recall a good number of aspects of that individual. For starters -

1. His/her name
2. Their hair color, its girth, length, texture
3. Height as well as physique
4. Skin color, texture, the location of every single hair on their body
5. The size and color of their eyes along with their exact placement on his/her face
6. The dimensions and form of their nose, lips, ears, chin ( dimples too, if any, he heeh h ) and where these were precisely positioned
7. Their persona. Every one of the distinct temperaments, eccentricities, subtleties and nuances that made that individual separate from everybody else
8. All of the thousands upon thousands ( or even millions or billions ) of experiences he/she had throughout the many years that spanned their existence . . .

Are you beginning to get the idea?

But let’s take this one step deeper. Apart from recollecting each and every facet of an individual’s physiological, psychological and emotional traits, He would certainly also need to remember that person’s genome.

Naturally, we all recognize that a genome pertains an organism’s entire set of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a chemical substance made up of the genetic information necessary to produce and then regulate the activities of each and every life form. DNA compounds are made up of a pair of winding, matched strands. Each strand consists of four chemical pieces, known as nucleotide bases. The bases are adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) together with cytosine ( C) and combine precisely with bases on its opposing strand flawlessly.

Now, the million dollar question is, just how large is the human genome? As stated by the National Human Genome Research Institute, ‘The human genome contains approximately 3 billion of these base pairs.’

That’s 3 times 10 to the 9th power or 3,000,000,000 base pairs . . . roughly.

To be able to replicate that single person to their very last attribute, our Maker has to remember and re-sequence that person’s 3,000,000,000 base pairs precisely the way these were while he/she was alive and kicking. He would need to do so perfectly, with simply no margin for error.

That’s the reason Jesus didn’t declare that those in tombs would be resurrected. He expressly revealed that only those in memorial tombs would undergo the resurrection. Simply speaking, those in Jehovah God’s memory.

Still feel he doesn’t value you?

Let’s keep going ’cause it gets far better!

Jehovah The Prospector

In 1 Chronicles 28:9 we read in part, “Jehovah searches through all hearts, and he discerns every inclination of the thoughts.” So, Jehovah looks into what’s in every single one of our hearts and minds. But what’s he trying to find?

As Jehovah searches through us, he meticulously sifts in search of the good. Akin to a prospector panning for precious metals, he’s on the lookout for the good in you. Jehovah does not compare and contrast you with others neither is he inflexible or even hard-hearted in his deliberating. It is indeed with a great subtlety that he reads your heart to assess the good in us. Even small measures of it. Jehovah sifts the good from the bad, a lot like a prospector throws away the useless gravel he comes across but keeps the gold nuggets.

Here’s an incredibly powerful real-life instance of Him doing just that!

In the Bible book of 1 Kings, we read about the way the ancient people of Israel were victims of the oppression and savagery of the Jeroboam Dynasty. As a result of the evil they repeatedly perpetrated, Jehovah determined that they absolutely would all be executed and that they wouldn’t even receive a proper burial; a truly disgraceful fate indeed. Even so, something very fascinating occurs when he references one of Jeroboam’s sons, Abijah.

We read, “All Israel will mourn him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will be laid in a grave, because he is the only one of the house of Jeroboam in whom Jehovah the God of Israel has found something good.” (1 Kings 14:13)

Amazing! In spite of how evil the whole Jeroboam Dynasty was, while he sifted through every one of their hearts and minds he managed to discover “something good” in Abijah. For that reason, he decreed that he ought to receive a distinguished funeral.

Jehovah is the same way with you. However small and inconsequential that little bit of good might seem to you He spots it in your heart and mind and rewards it. Even when the disillusionment, shame, and guiltiness we feel blinds us to the good in ourselves, our Maker lovingly looks beyond our blemishes and recognizes the good in us.

In July 1988, a man by the name of Robert Cambridge showed up at the National Gallery in London England and, with his shotgun, blew a hole through a drawing created by none other than Leonardo Da Vinci. At the time it was valued at about $30 Million.

The curious thing was that, despite the fact it was incredibly damaged, not a single person dared recommend it be thrown out. Why? Without a doubt because it was a 500-year-old work of genius! It was precious in the eyes of fine art enthusiasts the world over.

Are you not worth a whole lot more than a chalk and charcoal drawing?

In Jehovah’s eyes, you absolutely are.

The Most Powerful Reason Of All

Now, the most significant proof you have that you are indeed worthwhile and irreplaceable in Jehovah’s eyes is Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. The torturous death of Jesus and the even greater anguish that Jehovah was subjected to are testaments to their love for us.

““For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

But Jehovah did not just make this provision for humankind overall. He did it for you, me and each and every person that comprises our human family individually. Here’s how the Apostle Paul articulated this, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me.” (Galatians 2:20) (Emphasis mine.)

So just like Paul, you too can feel convinced that Jehovah’s supreme gift to humanity was a gift made for you because every person, individually, is precious and of great worth to Him.

Yes, YOU, my dear friend, have excellent reasons to be convinced that you are cherished, loved and valued by the very Sovereign of all reality, your loving Creator, Almighty Jehovah God.

So love yourself, be kind to yourself, forgive yourself. Eat right, get plenty of rest, exercise, take your medicine, work less, vacation more and play more. Avoid stress and drama like the plague and surround yourself with all those who treat you with the love, kindness, compassion, tenderness and mercy you deserve. Get rid of the ones that don’t.

Let go of anger, resentment, jealousy and bitterness and embrace peace, beauty, laughter, sympathy, forgiveness, gratitude, and love.

In other words, take really, really good care of yourself.

This care is includes getting yourself checked out by your doctor especially if you’ve been feeling depressed for several weeks now. Remember, Christ himself recognized, ““Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but those who are ill do.” — Luke 5:31. Even if you just haven’t been in for a physical in a while, make an appointment to be checked out as soon as possible.

Most important of all, recognize that there’s no reason why you need to carry all of your burdens on your own. Humbly, pour your heart out to your loving God and to those who love you and ask them for help.

And if there’s anything I can personally do to help don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here to serve.

Take care, be good to yourself and may Jehovah God bless you richly.