365 Days with God - Day 54: Precious

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 54, February 12, 2014

Readings: Psalm 54, Genesis 49, 2 Chronicles 27, Acts 20:17-38, Acts 21:1-16

What is precious to you? What do you hold dearly? What care do you take to protect that which is valuable in your life? Do you have it locked in a safe? Do you see it daily? Do you nurture and protect it? What did you pay for it?

There's a saying that I often find true - "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy." And I believe that it has a counterpart that is equally true - "Nothing precious comes cheap."

Did you know that you are precious to God? And that you were not purchased cheaply?

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.
(Acts 20:28-31)

We were purchased for an incredible price - the price of Jesus' blood on the cross, a price we can never repay. Friends, God paid the ultimate price for our lives. We are precious. And He has called us to something greater than just a Sunday morning experience.

God knows, as Paul talked about, that anything valuable is coveted by those who would do evil. Earthly possessions are ripe for theft if we are not careful, and God's children are even more valuable to Him, and to Satan as a result. What kind of protections would you place around something that someone you love had died to protect?

Paul knew and saw the danger, and admonishes us to recognize it as well. He didn't recommend a lax security policy. He worked day and night to protect that which God deemed precious enough to die for.  Consider what kind of daily life changes you would experience if you considered your friends, your family, your acquaintances, as valuable as God sees them. How would you protect them?