“God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.” (1 Corinthians 7:23, NLT)
When Jesus died on the cross, He gave His life for you. You were redeemed at a high cost. The Son of God had to die to take away the power of sin over you. Jesus was nailed to that cross to redeem you from the evils of sin and fallenness. Because of the high cost of Jesus’ act, you are considered highly valuable to God. Satan also recognizes your worth to God. That’s why he does everything he can to keep you away from your Maker. In doing so, Satan’s hope is to keep someone valuable (YOU!) from a relationship with God.
Today’s scripture talks about the “high price” paid by God for you. 1 Corinthians 7:23 states this very clearly. Paul did not like it that the Corinthian church was putting human religious traditions above the worship of Almighty God. They were letting things like the rite of circumcision, the order of worship, and even how much wine should be taken at communion to become important topics. Paul wanted to make sure that they knew that they should never let these religious issues cloud the fact that Jesus paid for their redemption with the high cost of His life. The Corinthian church people were not to become slaved by worldly issues in the church, enslaved by religious rituals and traditions. Instead, they were intended to be bound to Jesus for life, committed to the Savior who redeemed them.
If you take this scripture another way, someone else has paid a high cost for your life. Jesus died on a cross to stake a claim that you are valuable to Heaven! God desires a relationship with you! Throughout your life, others will put value on your life. Others will do things to show your worth. Others may redeem you, protect you, help you, watch over you. Like Jesus, when we sacrifice for others, it shows their value to us. When others sacrifice for us, it shows how valuable we are to them!
In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
'Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.' They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still, no desks were in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her classroom.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Armed Services Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedoms you have. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, and to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'
By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.
Like Jesus, soldiers of this country have died to protect your life and freedoms. They give value to your citizenship in the United States. Jesus gives value to your spiritual life, your soul, your heart, and so much more. He paid a high price to show your worth. How will you respond to those who paid a price to show your value to them? How will you respect the soldiers who gave up their lives and freedoms to protect you? How will you respond to the Savior who gave up His life on that cross for you?
Today’s scripture talks about the “high price” paid by God for you. 1 Corinthians 7:23 states this very clearly. Paul did not like it that the Corinthian church was putting human religious traditions above the worship of Almighty God. They were letting things like the rite of circumcision, the order of worship, and even how much wine should be taken at communion to become important topics. Paul wanted to make sure that they knew that they should never let these religious issues cloud the fact that Jesus paid for their redemption with the high cost of His life. The Corinthian church people were not to become slaved by worldly issues in the church, enslaved by religious rituals and traditions. Instead, they were intended to be bound to Jesus for life, committed to the Savior who redeemed them.
If you take this scripture another way, someone else has paid a high cost for your life. Jesus died on a cross to stake a claim that you are valuable to Heaven! God desires a relationship with you! Throughout your life, others will put value on your life. Others will do things to show your worth. Others may redeem you, protect you, help you, watch over you. Like Jesus, when we sacrifice for others, it shows their value to us. When others sacrifice for us, it shows how valuable we are to them!
In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
'Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.' They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still, no desks were in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her classroom.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Armed Services Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedoms you have. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, and to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'
By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.
Like Jesus, soldiers of this country have died to protect your life and freedoms. They give value to your citizenship in the United States. Jesus gives value to your spiritual life, your soul, your heart, and so much more. He paid a high price to show your worth. How will you respond to those who paid a price to show your value to them? How will you respect the soldiers who gave up their lives and freedoms to protect you? How will you respond to the Savior who gave up His life on that cross for you?