Supreme Value

Recently at a Book Warehouse in Pigeon Forge, I wandered to the basement to browse the bargain section. Shelves and shelves and shelves of bargain books. There I stumbled across one of Joseph Stowell’s books entitled Simply Jesus. Here’s a portion I found particularly challenging.

“Think for a minute about the things you’ve treasured in your life…I’m reminded of a friend of ours who was an avid decorator. She had all the knack and instinct to make a room come alive. Then, in the midst of one of her decorating sprees, the doctor told her she had cancer. To that point her decorating project had her in its grip. She woke up with it every morning and fell asleep rearranging the details. Her day was consumed with fabric swatches and catalogs strewn around the house.

“But on that day she drove home from her doctor’s office, the joy and fixation with that decorating project evaporated like water on a Phoenix sidewalk. Just that quickly, life itself had become precious. So precious that everything else that used to bring her joy was insignificant.

“How often have you heard it?
- A widower lamenting over the misplaced values that robbed him of precious time with his wife.
- A dad who had valued life at the office more than time at home with his young son.
- A working mom who treasured a promotion at work more than watching her baby girl grow up.
- A retiree who spent money carelessly through his working years and had nothing left for retirement.

“Getting our values straight is critically important in life. And it is particularly strategic for the one seeking to experience Jesus.

“If you value what looks good and gives you a buzz, your heart will embrace all that is temporal and seductive. But if you look hard and long at Jesus, if you read all that the label says about His matchless worth, then Christ will have your heart. Every time. All the time.

“Before the cross, all the value is affixed to us – all we are and have. At the cross, He alone is of supreme value.”