In
a challenging book entitled, The God-First
Life, author Stovall Weems recounts an incredible story that took several
years to unfold.
George
Walton was born on May 15, 1907, in Rocky Mount, Virginia. As an estate
appraiser, he had first dibs on rare coins, guns, jewelry, stamps, and books,
and he built up quite a collection. When Walton had an opportunity to purchase
one of only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels ever minted, he jumped at the
chance. He paid $3,750 for the treasure in 1945 and told his family that it was
worth a fortune. But after Walton died in a car crash on his way to a coin show
in 1962, appraisers surprisingly declared his nickel a fake. They marked it “no
value,” returned it to the disappointed family, and the coin stayed hidden in a
strongbox on the floor of a closet.
Eventually,
Walton's nephew, Ryan Givens, inherited the nickel. Even though it had been
dismissed as a counterfeit, something told him that his uncle was right. In
2003 the other four 1913 Liberty Head nickels went on display, and a million
dollar prize was offered to anyone who could produce the fifth. Givens
submitted his coin for evaluation once more. After hours of comparing and
contrasting against the other four nickels, six expert appraisers announced
that Walton's coin was the real deal.
Givens
sold the nickel for $3.1 million—a hundred years after it was originally
minted. Imagine a coin worth more than $3 million collecting dust in the back
corner of a closet for decades because it seemed worthless, even to expert
eyes.[1]
That
story made me think of all the discouraged believers sitting in the church pews
week-in-and-week-out thinking their lives cannot count for much, when in
reality their potential far exceeds their face value. What lies has the world,
yourself or the Devil told you about your self-worth that you’ve believed? They
come at us almost daily.
It
happens when Satan whispers to us, “God doesn’t really love you, because if He
did you wouldn’t be going through this mess.” It happens when we compare
ourselves to other believers and think, “I can’t preach a sermon, write a book, or sing a solo. I guess the Lord can’t use me.” Furthermore, the world can devalue
our self-esteem because the media extols only the most beautiful faces, the
fastest athletes, the richest CEOs and the most talented celebrities.
Don’t
believe the lies my friend, because God declares that you are something
special. In fact, He is so passionate about this that He wrote us a love letter
declaring it:
Ephesians
2:10 says, “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ
Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (NLT). Did you
ever think of yourself as God’s masterpiece? Think of it, when God looks at His
blood-bought children He sees a Mona Lisa of beauty and hears a Beethoven’s 9th
symphony of praise.
Listen
to the way Galatians 4:5-7 talks about the standing of every believer, “Thus we
have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure
that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit
of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of
intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a
child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the
inheritance” (MSG).
Do
you understand the imagery? Paul is saying, “Look you’ve gone from being on the
slave-block of sin, to being adopted into the family of God. You’ve traded
those rags for robes and those fetters for freedom. God is no longer your
enemy, but your Heavenly Father!” Because of God’s grace we receive God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
So
if you are one of those out there in the doldrums of self-loathing, struggling
with feelings of inferiority you need to understand this—the value the world
has stamped on you may say “one cent” but that’s not your true appraisal.
According to Christ, you were worth dying for. Let’s live free of the labels
that have been imposed upon us and instead understand what God’s word declares us
to be as in Christ Jesus. -DM
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