IT LOOKS LIKE JUNK, but in the hands of
the expert on PBS's Antiques Roadshow, that
attic-dwelling object from your mother's
cousin twice removed suddenly becomes a
worthy work of art, a showpiece of ancient
culture, a thing of value.

Value is relative. And in the last few years,
we have learned just how relative value can
be. Investments that at one point seemed
entirely adequate for retirement dwindle to
meagerness. Things we once thought were
necessities are converted to luxuries we can
do without. Value is tied to circumstance, to
wisdom, to experience, and to perspective.

The psalmist expresses value in God's
commands. He can speak to that
determination because he has tested them.
Like a jeweler examines a diamond, like an
appraiser adjudicates a property, like an
auditor checks the ledgers, the person who
knows God and His Word can attest to the
value therein.

The antique appraisers at the Roadshow
have the training to tell whether your little
curio is just plain curious ormonetarily precious.
They know because they've spent the time
learning, understanding, and testing the value
of old things. They are skilled to comprehend.

The more we immerse ourselves in the
Word of God, the more we learn of it and
practice it, the more valuable His Word
becomes. No riches can compare; nothing else
measures up.

Ron Benson

Express to God how valuable His Word is to you.