Prized Possessions!

"He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession." (James 1:18 NLT)

Ever had a prized possession--that one thing that mattered more to you than anything else--one that you  would die for?

When I was a teenager, I had been given four silver dollars that I kept in a little plastic church bank, on a shelf in my tiny little bedroom. Since we were certainly far from wealthy, these silver dollars gave me "bargaining" power with my mother from time-to-time and they were my prized possessions. One day, when I came home from school, there were gone. I searched the whole house--looked under beds, rugs, everywhere. and could not find them. Exhausted from my search and saddened by my loss, I sat on my bed crying. My grandmother, who was visiting with us asked me why I was crying and when I told her, she very calmly said, she had taken them because she needed some money. I was livid, but because I been raised to respect my elders, there was nothing I could do or say. When my mother came home from work, she offered to replace them, but I didn't want any more. I did not want to have anything that someone else could take from me so callously.

I lost my silver dollars and any respect I had for my grandmother, my bargaining power with my mother, and my trust of adults. My prized possession was gone, but I had learned a valuable lesson about people.

I'm sure other people have prized some possession over things and know what I'm talking about if it was lost.

Now, imagine how God feels about us--His prized possessions--and how He would feel if we were lost to Him.

He had already thought about it--the possibility of our being lost--and decided to come down from Heaven to make sure we would have access to Him for all eternity. After all--we are His prized possessions and He was willing to die for us--to keep us from being lost.

Considering how He feels about us--His love for us--should be our prized possessions--something we cherish and never want to lose.

We know we are His prized possessions, but is He ours?

He has done far too much for us and we should love Him simply because He is--Love--and His love and mercy endure forever. Make His love a prized possession, one you would do anything to keep and never feel that you can lose it.