Precious

The diamond is one of those precious stones mentioned in the Bible which brings to mind the commercial with the message that “diamonds are forever.”  Jesus on earth was the precious cornerstone that the builders rejected but was made the head of the corner.  He is the head of His church and gave His life to redeem His people that were precious in His sight. We were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. Peter tells us, “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”  (I Pet. 1:19).  Precious means valuable and costly; our salvation and redemption was costly as it exacted the precious blood of Jesus. Like the saying “diamonds are forever”, what was accomplished by the blood of Jesus is forever. Oh! how precious is the thought!

Jesus, our Saviour, is forever and is as His Heavenly Father from everlasting to everlasting. (Psalm 90:2).  Jesus is not precious to everyone; He only becomes precious to those who believe.  Peter goes on to reveal this fact in I Peter 2:7, “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious:”  Jesus wasn’t precious to those who crucified Him on the cross but becomes precious to those who believe they were crucified with Him as their representative. Paul felt this way in Gal. 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  Belief in Jesus Christ is evidence that we have been born again as the merits of Jesus’ shed blood have been applied to our hearts. God alone has worked this work of grace and is precious as it is forever. Solomon said, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.”  (Eccl. 3:14).

Even believers are sometimes divided and aren’t united with regard to various things within and without which is contrary to scriptural admonition. We are commanded to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. The Psalmist describes how precious is the unity of brethren in Psalm 133:1-2, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;”  Unlike the shed blood of Jesus and the new birth, unity is not always forever.  The reason is because of the sinfulness and weakness of men and women. We must look over one another for good and not for evil to maintain this precious blessing.

Many tears may be shed for various reasons in our service to the Lord.  They may be tears of sorrow, joy, compassion, etc, and these are the good tears that are shed. These are described as precious seed in the Bible and produce good results. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalm 126:5-6). We don’t desire, however, to be like Peter who shed some “bitter” tears because he denied the Lord three times. We know there is coming a day when God will wipe “all” tears away with no more sighing or sorrow. That indeed will be forever! How precious is the thought!

We usually don’t like to think of the loss of a loved one to death because we realize we’ll not see them again in this life.  However, the Bible describes death in a different perspective in the eyes of the Lord.  The Psalmist says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”  (Psalm 116:15).  Death usually isn’t precious in the eyes of men and women but is in the eyes of the Lord. A child of God is coming home; home to be with the Lord forever and to await the resurrection morning when the body, soul, and Spirit will all be reunited and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

There are many precious things in the word of God.  Truly as the song says “Precious Memories, how they linger, how they ever flood my soul.”  May God help us to think on the precious things of God from time to time and be lifted up above the shadows of this sin cursed earth.–January 25, 2013–Elder Larry Wise