Precious

You are precious in my eyes.  And honored.  And I love you.

Isaiah 43:4a

 

When I first read this verse I did a double take.  How is it I never heard it before?  Surely this was a loose paraphrase of the ancient text.

And surely God was referring to the nation of Israel, 700 years before Christ, not to me, Barclay, in 2018.

Yet all ten women sitting around the table at my Tuesday morning Community Bible Study seemed to believe that God was referring to each of them.

Many of us can recite John 3:16 in our sleep, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

When Jesus used the term, “world”, or the pronoun, “whoever” — he meant each of us.  Today, 2018.

Yet, I tend to listen to a critical inner voice, born out of childhood and perfected in adulthood.  It specializes in Fake News.  And it tells me — John 3:16’s  “world” may refer to others – but not to you.   God really doesn’t love you in the manner of this verse.

Do you have a Fake News reporter as well?

Let’s rewrite the headline.

We, each of us, are indeed “precious” in God’s eyes.  Honored. The verse DOES apply. To you. To me.

 

A young woman in the CBS group related how she explained this word, precious, to her 8-year-old son who was attending the children’s CBS program and also deep into the book of Isaiah.  “Look at my wedding ring,” she told him.  “Do you see the diamond?  This is what precious mean.  Valuable, unique, irreplaceable. THAT is how God sees us, his children.”

So when my Fake News reporter flashes a headline, I will look at my wedding ring and remember that God sees me as precious.  Valuable, unique, irreplaceable.

 

Insert your name, 

YOU are precious in my eyes, 

and honored, and I love YOU. 

God, 2018, and forever

 

Yes, you.

 

Want to know more about CBS – Community Bible Study? 

It runs from September to May, meets once a week in YOUR area, and is open to ALL!  So, you’ve never cracked open a Bible? Perfect!  So you’ve memorized the entire Old Testament? Great!  So you’re 82 or 8?  Get ready to learn!

The big caveat with CBS is —  you can’t share ANYthing about what church you attend (or not), nor ANYthing political.

Safe, engaging, amazing teaching and learning.

Next year the study will be on the book of Matthew.  Click the blue box below or the link itself to find a group in your area.

 

 

https://www.communitybiblestudy.org/