January 14, 2022 | Worthiness
As a part of an assignment for a doctoral thesis, a college student spent a year with a group of Navajo Indians on a reservation in the Southwest. As he did his research he lived with one family, sleeping in their hut, eating their food, working with them and generally living the life of a 20th Century Indian.
The old grandmother of the family spoke no English at all, yet a very close friendship formed between the two. They spent a great deal of time sharing a friendship that was meaningful to each, yet unexplainable to someone else. In spite of the language difference they shared the common language of love and understood each other. Over the months he learned a few phrases of Navajo and she picked up a little of the English language.
When the time came for him to return to the campus and write his thesis, the tribe held a going-away celebration. It was marked by sadness since the young man had become close to the whole village and all would miss him. As he prepared to get up into the pickup truck and leave, the old grandmother came to tell him good-bye. With tears streaming from her eyes, she placed her hands on either side of his face, looked directly into his eyes and said, “I like me best when I’m with you.”
Isn’t that the way we feel in the presence of Jesus? He brings out the best in us. We learn to see ourselves as worthy and valuable when we are in His presence. (sermoncentral.com).
If we’re honest as we look back on our lives, its hard to find much to show that we are worthy of all the gifts our Lord has given us. Too much of our pasts have been marred by sin and corrupted by selfishness. If anything, we deserve eternal damnation.
Yet God doesn’t see the blotches. Even after all the mistakes in our past, He deems us worthy of saving, even going so far as to allow His only Son to be sacrificed so that the sins of the past could be wiped out, now covered in Christ’s righteousness.
Jesus paints a simple picture in words about our worthiness when He says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten by God. Why, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).
In this passage in Luke, Jesus is telling His listeners of their worthiness before God. Made in His image, we are valuable to Him. Even the number of hairs on our head are numbered. He loves us enough to know even the most intimate details. Our worthiness to Him is shown by the actions of His love.
To show us He deems us worthy, God made a way toward salvation that we could have never achieved on our own. Because of sin, our condemnation hung over us like a storm cloud ready to burst. Because He valued His relationship with us, He provided a way of freedom. Because of His Son we are now seen as worthy of heaven.
Through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, we were given a new life, free from the condemnations we deserved. In His Son we were given a constant companion to keep us on the narrow path to heaven. In His Son we were given the perfect sacrifice for sin so that we no longer must live under the storm clouds of condemnation. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Now, in the presence of Christ we can enjoy peace, because we know He will never leave us or forsake us. We no longer have to look over our shoulders to the past because now we have been promised a future of glory beyond imagination. Because of Christ, we can rejoice in who God has made us to be and are able to live a new life under His grace. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The world might try and limit your worthiness, but God never will. To Him you are a miracle, a precious stone, a product of His own creation. Live your life in that knowledge and rejoice that you have been deemed as worthy in God’s eyes. Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us enough to provide a way to be made worthy of Your grace. Help us to share your message of forgiveness to the world. Amen.
