But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (Phil. 3:7)
AN ELDERLY MAN thought his Civil War collection was worth a small fortune. He showed a rifle, a weapons’ belt, and other items a soldier might carry. But an appraiser on a popular antiques show doomed the collector’s hope of enjoying a financial windfall. Everything was fake, the appraiser told him. The items were simply modern replicas. They looked valuable to the untrained eye, but the appraiser knew what to look for. The collection was worthless.
I used to think my good works were valuable enough to buy my way into heaven. However, one day I learned that God appraised all my good works as worthless. I felt spiritually bankrupt until I realized Jesus purchased salvation for me by dying on the cross. Now, like Paul, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).
Picture yourself in a store after someone switched all the price tags, having placed the highest prices on the cheapest items and the lowest prices on the most valuable items. The switched price tags might shock you, but hasn’t Satan deceived the world into esteeming self-righteous deeds of great worth but God’s love and saving grace of little or no value?
Let’s help people see the worthlessness of their good works and the inestimable value of Jesus’ work on the cross.
Tell someone today that the salvation Jesus offers freely is worth far more than the whole world.
Jim Dyet and his wife, Gloria, have been married fifty-five years. They live in Colorado Springs, where Jim enjoys golf and daily walks with his three small dogs.
