He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not.
~ Isaiah 53: 2-3
During a sermon this weekend, I was reminded of a song by a Christian artist named Steve Taylor. The song is entitled “The Lifeboat Song”. It was a particularly harsh song describing an exercise lead by a teacher entitled “Values Clarification” whereby children would be asked to decide from whom of several individuals should be thrown overboard because there isn’t enough room for everyone in the boat. The children are to determine who is the least important and who could be sacrificed. In this song the people who remain are the “beautiful” and the “intelligent”. The old, the handicapped, and the infirmed are thrown overboard.
We all intrinsically compare ourselves to one another and often we find ourselves lacking.
I was reminded by this verse in Isaiah that Jesus was not one of the “beautiful” and he was not someone who would have been chosen to remain on board the lifeboat by the class, “but He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (vs. 5)”. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we can find our value in Him. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” II Corinthians 5:21
Wow, we are now the righteousness of God. We are valuable! We no longer need to compare ourselves anymore!
Lord, thank You for your sacrifice for me. Help me to remember my value as a child of God. Help me to show others that they are valuable and loved by You.
kathleenathome
Sixty-six books in a year 