VALUATION

Revelation 18:9 (KJV) 9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Daniel 2:31 (KJV) 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness [was] excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof [was] terrible. This image’s head [was] of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

Valuation. What is a thing worth? The world is in the grips of an inverted system of evaluation. A system in which a person’s worth is measured by the abundance of his/ her possessions. The things most highly sought after are given the greatest “worth”. So deep is the reach of this perverse system, that the bodies and souls of individuals is now a commodity, although on the present scale of valuation, they are the least valued. The scriptures have warned of them that would even make merchandise of God’s people. And so they have. A vicious circle of deception by which a handful make a career and living off of the gullible.

You are worth the price that was paid for you. A soul in a clay tent redeemed with a life above value. The stone which the builders rejected gave his life, smiting the image in the feet, liberating the clay from the oppressive merchant systems of men, be they civil, political or religious, delivering a people to the Father, the mountain out of which the stone was cut. He did not interest himself with your possessions, nor did he take any political, religious or social place in this present world, though these things were offered him. He sought not yours, but you.

The apostle Paul is a tremendous example. Before his apprehension, he was a religious monster. By today’s standards he would have been called a terrorist. He actively persecuted the Lord’s people, breathing out threatenings and slaughter, on his way to Damascus with letters of authority from priests, to drag men, women, and children back for trial and punishment. The Lord’s way was not to “take him out” with a cruise missile. Rather, the Lord revealed Himself in Paul, and in this man, defined ministry. For Paul said he did not take any man’s gold and silver, but labored with his own hands, so he could provide both for himself and others, and above all, his word was not bought. He was chargeable to no one. And in finishing his course, he did not establish “Saul Of Tarsus Ministries”. He left behind his clay tent with the words, “You see my face no more”. You will find no placards soliciting funds to perpetuate what should not be perpetuated. Paul’s course is finished, his race over, ours is before us.

You are of great worth, worth the life that was forfeited for your soul. And you will not overcome with silver and gold and someone else’s testimony. You will overcome by the worth of your redemption, the word of YOUR testimony, and by not valuing your life in this world above the life that was given for it.

The great merchant system will fall. Whether social, economic, political, or religious. This system will come down. Christ in you, the hope of glory, will not.