Oh, for the love of money!

"Oh, for the love of money".  Have you ever heard that term?  It's and older term and is usually spoken with a bit of sarcasm in the voice.  We all enjoy money, some more than others.  Money controls some folks, while for others it's just a necessary commodity.  Either way, money (or currency) has been around forever.  There are plenty of references to money in the Bible, all to try to teach us the wisdom of treating it wisely, but not letting it interfere with our relationship with God. 

Here's a short story about money that was used to paint a life picture.  The source of the story is unknown:

"A well known speaker started off one of his seminars holding up a $20.00 bill.  In the room of 200, he asked, 'Who would like this $20.00 bill?'  Hands started going up...lots of hands. 'I'm going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this'.  He proceeded to crumple up the bill.  He then asked, 'Who still wants it?'  And again, the hands started raising.  'Well', he said, 'what if I do this?' and he dropped the crumpled bill on the floor and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.  He picked it up, now very crumpled and dirty and asked once again...'Now who still wants it?', and once again the hands went up in the air.

He paused for one of those pregnant moments, and looked over the audience.  'My friends', he said, 'there was a valuable lesson to learn there.  No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.  It was still worth $20.00.  Many times in our lives we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.  We may feel as though we are worthless.  But no matter what has happened, or what will happen, you will never lose your value.' "

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you, including God.  The worth of our lives comes not in what we have done, but in who we are....and each of us is one of God's children.  Some, sadly, are not in a relationship with God.  But that will never diminish the love He has for them.  Perhaps they just need to hear the message of their worth to Him to break free of whatever it is that is holding them back.

Are you that message carrier?