Articles
Time and Worth
Family photos, heirlooms, and mementos have great meaning and bring an emotional impact to us. Yet, to the many people who aren’t part of our family, they are just pictures, jewelry, and nick-nacks. As we read the Bible, is it just a big book of words and stories, or does it leave a permanent impression on our hearts? God can have a great impact on our lives, but only if we see the significance of the relationship we have with Him. The Bible is not a textbook meant to be studied for a test, but a way for us to know God intimately. The Bible is the greatest book we could ever read because it grants us the way to eternal salvation (Eph. 2:8-9). Also, it helps us see the value in our lives (Luke 12:6-7) and invites us to grow in love (1 Cor. 13).
In Matthew 20:29-34, Jesus healed two men who were born without sight. Living in a physical world, it is easy for us to focus on the physical disability that is healed in this story. These men might have been blind, but from a spiritual perspective, they could always see. They knew who Jesus was and the divine power that He had, even when a whole crowd of people tried to silence their cries for help. Their response to the crowd was to cry even louder for help because they knew the one and only person that could heal them. They saw Jesus’ importance as the son of the God and knew in their heart that Jesus was the only one who could heal them.
It is amazing to think that the first thing these men ever saw was Jesus. Every day are Christ and His teachings the first thing we focus on in our hearts when we wake up? Nothing can come in the way between us and Christ if we make it personal. Our path in understanding God is between us and God and no one else. It can be easy for us to fall into the extremes of listening to the crowd and even joining them. In a split second, we can choose to allow our biases to control how we act and feel toward other people. Yet, Jesus’ example in Matt. 20:29-34 shows that everyone is worthy because everyone is a beloved child of God (1 Tim. 2:4).
When Jesus cleaned out the temple in Matt. 21:12-17 He didn’t kick everyone out. He kept the people who the Pharisees would have deemed too unworthy to help and heal them (Matt. 21:14). Jesus knew He was going to be crucified and the power He had to stop it. Yet, He chose not to focus on what His death meant for Him, but what it meant for others. We all are important and have a role to play as God’s children. It is to see the value of every soul and allow others to see the relationship they can have with God.
