Valued

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:  Exodus 19:5

     God told His people that if they would only be obedient, they would be His special treasure that He would keep, hold and protect.  He tells them and us that though everything in the earth is His, only His family would He hold as a special treasure.  I understand what it means to have special treasures.

     When I was a boy of 8 or 9, I was wandering in the ridges above my East Tennessee home.  While out on that beautiful morning, I happened to look down and sitting on top of the dirt of the cow path sat the most exquisite arrowhead I have ever laid eyes on.  I snatched my treasure up and ran down the mountain to ask my grandfather if it really was an authentic arrowhead.  “Yes,” was his reply.

     That arrowhead still resides in a special little box in which I keep little boy and even big boy sundries,  I take them out every now and then to remind myself of the days on which each was found and placed into my keeping.  I find it interesting that all people need special treasures.  Even some of our greatest leaders kept small and special treasures.

     When Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865, he was carrying two pairs of spectacles and a lens polisher, a pocket knife, a watch fob, a linen handkerchief, and a brown leather wallet containing a five-dollar Confederate note and eight newspaper clippings, including several favorable to the president and his policies.1

     Did you catch that?  “Eight newspaper clippings” to remind the struggling president that he was appreciated and valued.  We all need to know that we are valued and special to someone.  I keep an electronic special treasure on my phone in this digital age and I regularly take it out to remind me that I am a special treasure to my Father.  I thought I might share that little treasure with you.  It is a snippet of Alistair Begg preaching on the value of faith in Christ.  It’s only three minutes long and I recommend it to you as His special treasure.