July 22, 2019
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It was even hard to believe it. This man went into an antique store basically for one reason: he was interested in old baseball cards, which can be worth a lot of money sometimes. Well, in this one store he didn't see any on display, so he asked the owner if he had any. The shopkeeper produced a cigar box with some very early baseball cards which actually dated back to the early 1900s. He said, "I don't put these out for everyone to see. I keep them in a drawer most of the time." Well, among those cards, the shopper found one of the most valuable baseball cards there is - one of those rare cards featuring Hall of Famer Honus Wagner. When the shopper inquired about the price, the owner said, "Well, I bought all of these from a woman for $20.00. But I know they're worth a lot more. I'll tell you what. I'll sell them to you for $200.00." Well, knowing the real value of just that one card alone, and desperately trying to keep a poker face, the shopper took him up on his offer. Later he sold that Honus Wagner card on the Internet - you know, the one he got for $200.00 - for something like $200,000!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Worth More Than You Can Imagine."
The woman who sold that card to the store owner didn't know what it was really worth. The store owner didn't realize its value either, and he let it go for what turned out to be really cheap.
Now, it's one thing to undervalue a baseball card and let it go for cheap. It's another thing for a person to undervalue himself or herself and let themselves go for cheap. That could be a mistake you're making. You don't understand how much you're worth, and you've been making hurtful choices because of it. It could well be that some people in your life have treated you like you're not worth much and you've believed it. Maybe you've been told that you're not worth much, or you've let your inadequacies and limitations and failures convince you that you must not have that much value.
What a mistake! And it leads to so many other mistakes. You end up trashing yourself or settling for less than God intended for you because you think it's all you deserve. But our Creator says, "We are God's workmanship" (Ephesians 2:10). You are a unique, handmade original, made by a God who only does masterpieces. All those people who treated you like you don't matter; they have no idea who you really are, what you're worth! No one on earth gave you your worth and no one on earth can take it away!
Knowing how much you're really worth comes from being close to the God who gave you your worth. But we've trashed ourselves by doing things our way instead of God's way: by lying, hurting others, dirtying sex, and living selfishly. And our sin separates us from the One who made us. But then Jesus came, and he showed how much we matter to God. In 1 John 4:9-10, our word for today from the Word of God, He says, "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. He sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
God paid for the sin that you've done against Him with the life of His one and only Son. You're never going to be close to your Creator; you're never going to experience His love or your worth until you belong to the One who thought you were worth dying for. And that's a relationship you could begin this very day if you will just tell him, "Jesus, I am yours from this day on. You died to pay for my sin, and I am putting me totally in Your hands."
You ready for that? Listen, get to our website. It's where many people have gone to begin a personal relationship with Jesus, with the biblical information they find there. Get there as soon as you can today. This is your moment! The website is ANewStory.com.
Why don't you surrender your life to the One who loves you the most, and experience for yourself what it is like to be loved by God!