Eyes to See

So, this post may seem cliched, but I still think it is important.

I went for a walk this afternoon and in the midst of praying I looked down and saw a nickel. For some reason I bent down and picked it up. This is not my normal mode of operation, generally I let anything less than a quarter lie in the dirt. In any case I picked it up and carried it with me as I walked. It rattled around in my name and I noticed it was really rough around the edges. I looked closed and saw that it was dirty and scarred. That the edges were marred and the surface was pocked from being out in the weather for who knows how long. I rolled it around in my fingers as I looked at it and what God said to me next stopped me in my tracks...

"It still has value."

I don't often get 2x4 moments (where it feels like God smacks you in the forehead with a 2x4), but this was one of them. Yeah, it still has value. I could take it to any bank and they would accept it. Why? Because it still bore the image and mark of the one who made it - the United States government. So even though its aesthetic value was non existent and its material cost very low, it still carried value. Not because of its worth in its own right, but because it bore the image of its maker.

It is a very short line to draw to make the connection between this nickel and you and me. We were all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and even though that image is distorted by sin and our own fallen nature, God still values us. In fact, He paid the highest price to get us, He crucified His Son on a cross. We were purchased with the blood of the only innocent man to ever walk the earth. This sacrifice was not just for me, it was for everyone who has ever drawn breath.

How often do I walk past the nickels, pennys and dimes in my own life, only paying attention to the quarters? How many people do I write off as having no value even though they bear the image of their Maker, who I claim to cherish, love and obey? God, would you give me eyes to see those whom you love and value, but who hold no attraction for me in a natural sense. Amen.