The Value of Freedom by Alan Wimbish
How much is freedom worth? Everyone has family and, unless your family doesn’t like you, your family values you very much. If you are married, your spouse (hopefully) values you. If you have kids, they probably value you as their parent, unless they are teenagers. I value my country and my family. I have never owned a really expensive car, but I have always appreciated muscle cars, especially the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 “Super Snake”. It is not only a beautiful car, but it is fast, and expensive. At a Scottsdale, Arizona auction in 2007, a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 sold for 5.5 million dollars. There was someone in the audience at the auction that day that wanted this particular car. That person had the money available that day in order to purchase that car. I am sure that person was not the only one in the audience that wanted that car, nor were they they only person in the audience with lots of money in their wallet to buy that car on that day. But, only one person was able to buy the car because they were willing to spend the money to get what they wanted. The value of that car did not start off at 5.5 million dollars. But that was the ending price. Real value is determined by what someone is willing to pay, not what the owner says it’s worth. I may have a particular Rolex watch that I want to sell. I think that the value is one thousand dollars. I may even have had the Rolex appraised by someone with appraisal credentials and that person says it’s worth one thousand dollars. When I go to sell the Rolex, an interested person may only be willing to pay five hundred dollars for the watch. Or, a person may have really been looking for this particular Rolex and is willing to pay one million dollars because to that person, that’s what the Rolex is worth. Value is determined by what someone is willing to pay, not what the owner thinks it’s worth.
How much are you worth. Evidence has proven that over the past few decades, many people suffer from feelings of low self-worth. Many people, because of different reasons, feel that they are not really worth anything and see themselves in a bad light. They will not tell you that they feel this way, but deep down, when no one else is around, they are consumed with thoughts of worthlessness. They may try to soothe themselves with drugs, alcohol, dangerous lifestyle habits; anything to take away the pain. I’m not a psychologist, but I have enough experience in the past as a cop to know that this feeling of worthlessness is rampant and wide-spread and manifest itself in many self-destructive behaviors. Maybe you are one of these people that does not feel like you are really worth anything. I want you to know something…..you are valuable. You are valuable to God, the Creator and Lord of the universe. The Bible says that He made you, and formed you in your mother’s womb. Before your mother even knew that she was pregnant with you, God knew all about you. Matter of fact, the Bible says that God has written all of your days in His book. He knows you better than you know yourself (Psalm 139:13-18). God has purchased you with the priceless, precious, sinless, blood of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are so valuable to God, that even before we were born, God made the choice to redeem you from the curse of sin by the blood of Jesus. How valuable is the blood of God’s one and only, perfect Son, the Lord Jesus? Priceless. That’s how much value God puts on you and I. Freedom is not free; the cliche is true. Value is determined by what someone is willing to pay, not what the owner says it’s worth. God says that you are priceless.
Alan Wimbish is the State Coordinator of Child Evangelism Fellowship of New Mexico
