Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

---

16 Jan 2012
            Good morning, dear ones.
            Whew! Lots of problems.  Now Becki is afflicted with some of the same symptoms as the little boys have had.  I think she’s feeling about .5 too. Even Max is ailing…having had a fight last night with a raccoon. Not sure how this day will go.  I guess Martin Luther King didn’t have it real easy either.  Of course, today is a holiday with his name on it.
            May your day go better than ours.  If not…seek God and trust Him anyway.
                        Love, Dad/Ray

---

16 January
Passage: Matthew 12:1-21
Focus: “How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!”  Matthew 12:12.

            Here’s a challenging theological question for you: How many sparrows are you worth? It was back in Matthew 10:31 that Jesus said, “…you are worth more than many sparrows.”  If I were to attempt an answer leaning only on my unstable feelings, there are times when my sense of personal worth is about .5 sparrows.  Other times it may soar to about 1231. Whatever.  But now the question of human worth is revisited: “How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!”
            I’m going to suggest two statements regarding the matter of human worth that form a glaring paradox.  (1) You are extremely valuable to Creator God. But to prevent our getting too arrogant and presumptuous with this truth, the question must be answered, WHY?  It is certainly not because you and I are so flawlessly wonderful and lovable.  It has to be related to our potential—what He can make from the raw materials of our beings.
            I buy logs occasionally.  Those logs are close to worthless in their raw form.  It is only when I take a log apart with my saw mill and make something useful that its worth is realized.  It’s easy to see how this idea underscores God’s grace—His reconstructive AMAZING GRACE (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:16-18).
            Here’s where the paradox comes in.  (2) You are virtually worthless to Creator God.  Before you respond with approval or reaction to these two statements, let’s understand that there is a vital conditional IF clause that needs to be attached to each.  So I am valuable to God IF I submit to His reconstruction project (Romans 12:1-2).  But IF I resist or reject His plan and purpose to make me “conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Romans 8:29), I become no more valuable than “chaff that the wind blows away” (Psalm 1). Please understand that this IF clause really boils down to a JESUS clause.