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“Look at the birds of the air:
they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?”

– Jesus, from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:26)

The current economic downturn is hitting rural America hard. Cities and towns that are populated by blue-collar, factory workers in various types of industry are feeling the pinch of tightening budgets. People are fearful for their jobs. Millions are already out of work. Many retirees have watched a large percentage of their savings and investments vanish in the past few months.

When we estimate the importance of life in terms of finances and material possessions, we can easily despair at the thought of our “value” and “worth” plummeting. But Jesus reminds us that our worth is not in our portfolio or bank account.

God is the God of the helpless, forgotten, and those considered least important in the eyes of the world. As Jesus condemned worry and instructed his followers to trust God in all things, he told them to look at the birds of the air. God gives them food and sustains them, even if they don’t work and earn their way. If God takes care of the birds, who have done nothing to deserve such care and consideration, will he not care for his children?

Our value in the eyes of God does not shift with the changing sands of economic tides. Our worth is not measured in what we do for God, but in what God has done for us.

This is God the Father who sacrificed his only Son upon the cross that we deserved.

This is God the Son who willingly took on flesh and lived among us.

This is God the Spirit who prompts our hearts and brings us back into eternal, unending fellowship with our Maker.

It is the costly actions of God that give us our value. We measure our worth according to the love by God!

In these difficult times, we – the people of God’s kingdom – need to be reminded of our true citizenship and true identity. The uneasiness of worry surfaces in our hearts when we take our eyes off the kingdom and forget who we are in Christ. We are royalty. Our older Brother is the King of the world.

Consider the kindness of God toward even the soul-less animals of His creation. And then remember: we are loved, chosen, and saved by the King of Kings, who holds our life in His hands.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2009 Kingdom People blog

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