Price Check!
My pastor Matthew Sink today passed on a story from Soren Kierkegaard. In the parable, some thieves broke into a jewelry store. They should have earned the name of the Ironic Bandits because instead of stealing the merchandise, all they did was switch the prices. Thus, they forced staff to reevaluate what was common and what was treasure, what was man's markup, and what was true rarity.
The connection to Matthew 6:19-20 is clear. Just as Jesus insists, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal," and the corresponding affirmative, "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither my nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." (New King James Version) As we start a new week of work or looking for work, indeed, if the paycheck is the ultimate goal, we are going to be shortchanged and frustrated.
That God is teaching me during my interim of unemployment that my worth is not measured in my job title or my wages has filled this space often enough. Jonathan Franzen warns me, "A style repeated too often devolves into a tic." I'll choose an alternate but related question and suggested we look for instances in recent life experience that suggests a switching, or switching back, of price tags might be in order.
I need a price check on the inspiration aisle, myself. When a prospective employer said I inspired him but did not follow up with a job offer, at least not yet, my estimate of the worth of inspiration plummeted. God's Word offers a steadier measure of value. Proverbs 25:11 likens a word fitly spoken apples of gold in settings of silver. If my words or example, or yours, teach, 1 Timothy 5:17 prices them worthy of double honor.
Not only does my reappraisal suggests that I am undervaluing the right things, I may be overvaluing the wrong ones. Quick to push aside the compliments, I'll pay compound interest continually on any criticisms that come my way. This criticism is Satan's business, and many of his spurious charges are thrown out of court in a setting similar to Zechariah 4. When confessed, God promises to put our sins behind Him according to Isaiah 38:17 and places them as far as the east is from the west according to Psalm 103:12, why would I treasure that which Heaven declares void? Perhaps the price tags on our mental inventory should be rechecked every morning, reconciled alongside the new mercies Lamentations 3:22-23 couple with the Lord's assured faithfulness.
Which of your price tags have you been reevaluating recently?
The connection to Matthew 6:19-20 is clear. Just as Jesus insists, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal," and the corresponding affirmative, "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither my nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." (New King James Version) As we start a new week of work or looking for work, indeed, if the paycheck is the ultimate goal, we are going to be shortchanged and frustrated.
That God is teaching me during my interim of unemployment that my worth is not measured in my job title or my wages has filled this space often enough. Jonathan Franzen warns me, "A style repeated too often devolves into a tic." I'll choose an alternate but related question and suggested we look for instances in recent life experience that suggests a switching, or switching back, of price tags might be in order.
I need a price check on the inspiration aisle, myself. When a prospective employer said I inspired him but did not follow up with a job offer, at least not yet, my estimate of the worth of inspiration plummeted. God's Word offers a steadier measure of value. Proverbs 25:11 likens a word fitly spoken apples of gold in settings of silver. If my words or example, or yours, teach, 1 Timothy 5:17 prices them worthy of double honor.
Not only does my reappraisal suggests that I am undervaluing the right things, I may be overvaluing the wrong ones. Quick to push aside the compliments, I'll pay compound interest continually on any criticisms that come my way. This criticism is Satan's business, and many of his spurious charges are thrown out of court in a setting similar to Zechariah 4. When confessed, God promises to put our sins behind Him according to Isaiah 38:17 and places them as far as the east is from the west according to Psalm 103:12, why would I treasure that which Heaven declares void? Perhaps the price tags on our mental inventory should be rechecked every morning, reconciled alongside the new mercies Lamentations 3:22-23 couple with the Lord's assured faithfulness.
Which of your price tags have you been reevaluating recently?
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