“So don’t be afraid . . .”

Journeys Through the Word

“So don’t be afraid . . .”

Verse(s) considered:

Matthew 10:29-31

(29)  What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.

(30)  And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.

(31)  So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Thoughts along the road:

Jesus takes time out here to point out our value to God. This is only one small comparison of value among many in the scripture that put our position in perspective from God’s point of view. God takes care to be greatly aware of the lives of tiny sparrows. He is acutely aware of the loss of even one of these small birds. To us, these birds are of little consequence. We do not keep track of them and would never even miss them if a hundred of them die. But God keeps track. He knows where each one is and how it is doing. We are more valuable than any one of them to him. He knows the small details of our existence. Counting the number of hairs on someone’s head to show how much you care for them may seem a bit extreme, but then that depends on how much you love them. God’s love for us is infinite.

Where to go from here:

We seem to derive our own sense of value based on some really odd things. We base it on how we look, how much money we have, how many friends we have, how well accepted we are in our community, and what we have accomplished. God counts none of those things in his estimation of our value to him. We can clearly see how much he loves us by how much he gave for us. John 3:16 tells us:

(16)  “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (NLT – New Living Translation)

If we read the story of Abraham when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac, we could possibly think that God was playing a cruel joke on Abraham. In fact, he was demonstrating the exact kind of sacrifice that he was willing to make to create a foundation for a relationship with us.

He went all in. All we have to do is to put our faith in him. We have to trust him. It is a much easier decision to do that when we know how much he values us.