Deuteronomy 7:6-9 - [Moses said] "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations."
When my mother was dying, one of the last things she did was to give me her jewelry box. In it were the things she treasured—jewelry from her marriage, from her parents, even a Lego construct my toddler son gave her! These were special to her, and she wanted them in good hands.
That is a pretty good definition of "holy." God's people are special to Him—not because there are so many of them, not because they are valuable in the eyes of others—but because they are His, and He treasures them. He watches over them both day and night. They are never far from His thoughts; and He makes sure they stay in His care.
It would be silly for the costume jewelry and even the Lego pieces to start trumpeting about how valuable they are. Their whole value lies in the love my mother had for them and especially for their givers. It would be silly for us, who belong to the Lord, to imagine He chose us because we were somehow in ourselves so valuable—"diamonds in the rough," that sort of thing. We weren't. Whatever value we have, we have because Jesus loves us.
And what value is that? An incredibly high one—because God Himself came down from heaven and became a human being to make us His own. Because He bought us at the cost of His own life on that cross, with the price of His own blood. Because He rose from the dead so that all of us might live with Him forever, sharing the everlasting life that He offers to anyone who will trust Him. We are His jewels—because He has made us so. And we love Him.
WE PRAY: Dear Savior, I am Yours and You are mine. Thank You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. If you are Jesus' holy, valued possession, what does that say about your worth now?
2. Does this give you any insight into why God refers to Himself as a "jealous God" when it comes to our worship?
3. How ought we to look at our fellow believers, especially the least of them?
Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 93-95 Philippians 4
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