by Joseph Tkach
Two years ago, a lock of Elvis Presley’s hair that had been preserved by a fan was sold at auction for fifteen thousand dollars. And last year, someone paid more than $20,000 for a set of Winston Churchill’s false teeth. And Emperor Napoleon’s toothbrush sold for
$21,000.
You and I are not so famous, and no one would pay anything like that for something that belonged to us. But have you ever asked yourself, “What exactly am I worth?”
Well, I am afraid that in terms of the actual value of the constituents of our bodies, the answer is not much. Our bodies are mainly common chemicals, such as oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and calcium, which are not really expensive. There are also trace elements, which raise the value a little, but not by much. When you add it all up, the total
value of the chemicals we’re made of, at today‘s prices, is only about four dollars and fifty cents.
Humbling, isn’t it? It’s something to think about the next time we start to get the big head. Chemically we are only about as valuable as a Big Mac combo or a Starbucks Frappuccino. But, of course, that’s not the whole story. There is much more to a human being than just the price of the chemicals that make up his or her body.
The monetary value of anything depends on what people are prepared to pay for it. Obviously someone put immense value on owning Elvis’ hair or Sir Winston’s teeth, and they were willing to invest a large sum for those items. But the Bible tells us that
Someone has put a far greater value on every human, and that Person paid the
highest possible price for us. I’m talking, of course, about God, who loves us
all and wants to spend eternity with us.
But in the way the gospel is often presented, you’d think God has to be convinced to love us by good works and obedience. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus said in Luke 12:32 that it is his Father’s “good pleasure to give us the kingdom.”
In John 3:16-17 he said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
So many people think they’re condemned until they can be good
enough to save. They think God doesn’t want them unless they can measure
up. But Jesus said otherwise. God wants us. He wants every person,
including you. He said in John 17:24,
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
God doesn’t have to be convinced to want us. He doesn’t have
to be persuaded to save us. He wants us so much that he gladly paid for us with
his life. It was a heavy price to pay, but he obviously thought we were worth
it.
