Healing Rays of Righteousness

Some years ago I heard a story about a then well-known speaker who began his seminar presentation by holding up a new twenty-dollar bill.  In the room of two hundred persons, he asked, “Who would like this twenty-dollar bill?”  Hands were slowly raised up.  He continued, “I am going to give this twenty-dollar bill to one of you, but first let me do this.”  He then proceeded to crumple up the bill.  He then asked, “Who still wants it?”  Again the hands went up in the air.  “Well,” he asked, “what if I do this?”  Dropping the crumpled bill to the floor, he ground it beneath the heel of his shoe, until the bill was not only crumpled but also dirty and torn.  “Now who still wants it?” he asked.  And again the hands went up.

“My friends,” he said, “you have all learned a very valuable lesson.  No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.  It was still worth twenty dollars.  Many times in our lives we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.  We feel as though we are worthless.  But no matter what happened or will happen, you will never lose your value in the eyes of those who love you.  You are special, and never forget it.”

I totally agree with this speaker, and believe the biblical record of God’s relationship with his people consistently supports his message.  You were born great, unique, and full of potential.  And now, years later, you are even greater, more unique, and still full of potential.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!”  (1 John 3:1).

I remember the bedtime ritual of our small children coming to me for a kiss and a goodnight.  Each time I would profess my love for them they would respond, “I love you, too, Daddy.”  This ritual became our good-bye ritual as our children grew older, and that ritual continues even to this day.

I have no doubt that my children love me.  But I can recall a time when they probably did not.  They needed Mom and Dad.  They relied on us.  They were utterly and totally dependent.  They could not prepare their own food nor feed themselves, put on their own clothes, change their own diapers, move about unless carried, and the list goes on.  As newborns, our children were totally dependent.

From the very first sight of our children, the first touch, the first sound of a cry, the first cradling, I was head over heels in love with them.  I loved them simply because they were mine.  They didn’t earn it.  They didn’t necessarily deserve it.  Furthermore, they demanded a lot and were costly in both time and money.

They would get sick and grouchy, and many a night interrupted our needed sleep.  They could be noisy, messy, and smelly all at the same time.  But above and beyond any of that, they were my children, and nothing they could do would ever stop me from loving them.

As they rapidly grew up in that environment of love, they began to love me and their mother as their parents.  And as they matured into their adult years, so did their love deepen, and now when they say “I love you” I know I can take them at their word.  More importantly, I know their words are true, because I can feel the deeper emotions that those words convey.

In his letter, I hear John saying that God’s parental relationship with us is similar to ours with our children.  We love because he (God) first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).

We are children of God, who is LOVE.  And there is NOTHING that can ever stop God from loving us.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).

And so you may feel as though you are worthless.  But no matter what happened or will happen, you will never lose your value in the eyes of your Heavenly Father and those who love you.  You are special, and never forget it.  You are loved, today and always.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 9, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley