How much are you worth? I am not sure how to answer that question.
Whenever I went to Haiti there was the possibility I could get kidnapped. I’m not really sure what sum to tell my family or friends to pay for my release if I did wind up in captivity.
Don Miller, a classmate of mine is a permanent deacon in his parish. Don recently told me that the man in the parish in Haiti he works with was kidnapped. His family and others had to raise $60,000 to get him released. I wonder if others would raise that much for me!
Several years ago I talked to a wealthy man from South America who was having very serious marital problems. His wife had been kidnapped and he dickered back and forth with the kidnappers before he paid the ransom. She was still very angry with him for not ransoming her immediately. If he really loved her, why did he not just pay the ransom immediately?
If we could somehow break down the chemical composition of our bodies I could tell you your material worth. You have within your body enough iron for a nail; enough sugar to fill a sugar bowl; enough fat for seven bars of soap (that may vary from person to person); enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop, enough phosphorous for 2,200 match heads, enough magnesium for a dose of magnesium; enough potassium to shoot a toy cannon, all mixed in with a little sulfur. So even in today’s inflated market, your physical parts are valued at about $3.50. That is how much you and I are physically worth.
What gave the Prodigal Son his value is that he belonged to someone. He had a loving father. When I hear that there are 5,000 runaways every day in America, that will not cause most people to blink an eye. But if you hear that YOUR child is one of them, there is nothing that you would not do to see that your son or daughter is found.
YOU are more valuable than any precious diamond. Why? Because you belong to our heavenly Father. In the parable of the lost coin, we read where a woman turns her house upside down in search for a missing coin. Will God not literally turn the world upside down in his search for you when you wander off or for one lost soul?
Thanks to Anastasia Shuraeva for the photo.
What would YOU tell your family and friends to offer to pay if you were kidnapped?
What do you tell God the Father that you are really worth?
YOU DON’T HAVE TO AUDITION FOR JESUS. JESUS HAS ALREADY CHOSEN YOU!
