2016年1月11日
你有價值You Have Value
读经: 羅馬書5章6-11節
Reading: Romans 5:6-11
因為你們是重價買來的。-哥林多前書6章20節
You were bought at a price. 1 Corinthians 6:20
全年读经: 創世記27-28章;馬太福音8章18-34節
Bible in a Year: Genesis 27–28; Matthew 8: 18-34
岳母過世後，我和太太在她居所梳妝台的抽屜中，發現許多刻著印地安人頭像的一美分硬幣。她沒有蒐集硬幣的習慣，但在她的那個年代，這些硬幣四處流通，她就存了一些下來。
這些硬幣有的保存得很好；有的卻磨損、腐蝕變黑，甚至已看不清紋路。硬幣的背面，每一個都有「一分錢」的戳印。現在的一分錢根本不值錢，很多人都認為它沒用。但是這些一美分的硬幣在當時還可以買上一份報紙。收藏家也視它如珍寶，即使它們晦暗無光澤，刮痕累累。
或許你也會覺得自己已失去了往日的光彩、傷痕累累、衰老無用，再也跟不上時代的腳步。即便如此，上帝依然認為你很有價值。宇宙的創造主愛你，不是為了你的心智、軀體、衣著、成就、聰明，或是品格，而是因為你這個人。再遠的距離、再貴的贖價，祂都願意支付，只為了擁有你（哥林多前書6章20節） 。
事實上，上帝早就這樣做了。祂從天上的寶座降生人世，用自己的寶血買贖了你 （羅馬書5章6、8-9節） 。祂就是這麼想要擁有你。你在祂眼中是何等寶貴，祂愛你。
父啊，每當我思想祢對我的愛，
我都讚嘆、震驚，
因祢竟能愛我這樣的罪人。我讚美祢。
基督的死顯出上帝多麼愛你。
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After my mother-in-law died, my wife and I discovered a cache of US Indian Head pennies in a dresser drawer in her apartment. She wasn't a coin collector, as such, but she lived in the era when these pennies were in circulation and she had accumulated a few.
Some of these coins are in excellent condition; others are not. They are so worn and tarnished you can hardly see the imprint. All bear the stamp "One Cent" on the opposite side. Although a penny these days has little value and many consider them useless, this one-cent coin would have bought a newspaper in its day. And collectors still find value in them, even those that have been battered and abused.
Perhaps you feel tarnished, worn, old, or out of circulation. Even so, God finds value in you. The Creator of the universe wants you—not for your mind, your body, your clothes, your achievements, your intellect, or your personality, but because you are you! He would go any distance and pay any price to possess you (1 Cor. 6:20).
In fact He did. He came down to earth from heaven and purchased you with His own blood (Rom. 5:6, 8-9). That's how much He wants you. You are valuable in His eyes, and He loves you.
As I think about Your love for me, Father, I wonder with amazement how You could love someone like me—and I praise You.
Christ's death is the measure of God's love for you.