When I was a kid I had a wooden box in which I stashed my "treasures." The objects placed in the box had no resale value but for some reason I liked to collect them. In the box were keys I had found, stickers with my name on them, ticket stubs to baseball games I attended, and random raffle tickets. Looking back there were a lot of strange things I collected: bones, baseball cards, rocks, and action figures. Some things I collected had a small amount of monetary value, but the majority of it could be classified "junk." Where it has gone I do not know, but I know where it belongs: in the bin!
In the same way a parent raises their eyebrows at the worthless sort of stuff kids love to collect, I wonder how God loves me. I receive His love gladly but at the same time know I do not deserve it. That God would love sinners and make them His greatest treasures is beyond my comprehension. He does not merely lift us out of the gutter or from the scrap heap of life, but He raises our carcasses dead in sins to new life and adopts us as His special children. God even keeps notes concerning our conversation as it is written in Malachi 3:16-17: "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name. 17 "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."
There is space in the church and in heaven for all people who repent and trust in Jesus Christ. God will not refuse any who rely upon Him, for He has plenty of room. We are not like dusty relics stowed away in a box which are easily forgotten, but a place in heaven is being prepared for us. Daily we can experience fellowship with God in His presence, for the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. Also Jesus has promised that wherever even two or three gather in His name, there He is in the midst of them. He is the One who has called us and grafted us into the Body of Christ, uniting all Christians as one.
The things we treasure as children we gladly part with later, but God delights in us as our love of Him develops and grows. God will not part with you any more than a sane person would part with an eye or a leg on a whim. I am overwhelmed to consider God, who can make all things new from scratch, desires to be glorified through the life of a sinner He has made a saint. God demonstrated His love by dying on the cross to atone for our sin and purchase us with His own blood (Acts 20:28). Amazing, that we would be counted among God's precious treasures!
In the same way a parent raises their eyebrows at the worthless sort of stuff kids love to collect, I wonder how God loves me. I receive His love gladly but at the same time know I do not deserve it. That God would love sinners and make them His greatest treasures is beyond my comprehension. He does not merely lift us out of the gutter or from the scrap heap of life, but He raises our carcasses dead in sins to new life and adopts us as His special children. God even keeps notes concerning our conversation as it is written in Malachi 3:16-17: "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name. 17 "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."
There is space in the church and in heaven for all people who repent and trust in Jesus Christ. God will not refuse any who rely upon Him, for He has plenty of room. We are not like dusty relics stowed away in a box which are easily forgotten, but a place in heaven is being prepared for us. Daily we can experience fellowship with God in His presence, for the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. Also Jesus has promised that wherever even two or three gather in His name, there He is in the midst of them. He is the One who has called us and grafted us into the Body of Christ, uniting all Christians as one.
The things we treasure as children we gladly part with later, but God delights in us as our love of Him develops and grows. God will not part with you any more than a sane person would part with an eye or a leg on a whim. I am overwhelmed to consider God, who can make all things new from scratch, desires to be glorified through the life of a sinner He has made a saint. God demonstrated His love by dying on the cross to atone for our sin and purchase us with His own blood (Acts 20:28). Amazing, that we would be counted among God's precious treasures!
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