July 27, 2009
It’s What’s on the Inside that Counts
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV).
Friend To Friend
My husband, son, and I had traveled to Cancun, Mexico for a vacation. It was fun family time, but the trip home was grueling. The airport was full of hot, sweaty, smelly vacationers anxious to return home. Unfortunately, because of various delays, the flight was rescheduled for a later time. Filled to capacity, the darkness of the night could not hide the fact that the aircraft was old, dirty, and decrepit. It didn’t matter that the flight crew spoke little English, because the plane was so loud that we couldn’t hear what was said anyway. My son kept insisting, “Mom, when we walked by the plane to get on, I saw duct tape on the left rear wing!” When the flight attendant demonstrated the emergency procedures, we all paid very close attention. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I ever remember seeing such an attentive group of passengers.
After we were finally airborne, the flight attendant announced that because of flight delays, the Charlotte customs office, our final destination, would be closed when we arrived. So we had to stop over in Florida to go through US customs.
At midnight, ninety hot, tired, disgruntled passengers disembarked, checked their carryon bags through customs, picked up their luggage at the baggage claim, checked it through customs, and then returned to board the same rickety plane. This didn’t sound too complicated, except for one problem: one of our suitcases, containing my husband and son’s dirty clothes, did not make it to baggage claim. It was missing, probably somewhere back in Mexico. We were a little upset, but filled out the necessary claim form for lost luggage, hoping for the best. After all, it was only clothes, and dirty ones at that.
The next day as he settled down for some quiet time with the Lord, my husband reached for his Bible. But it was nowhere to be found.
“Honey, have you seen my Bible?” he asked. “I can’t find it anywhere!” As soon as he finished his sentence, he remembered where he had put it. His Bible was in the lost suitcase with all the dirty clothes. Suddenly, the suitcase was no longer unimportant. This was the Bible that I had given to him on our honeymoon years earlier, the Bible that I had rebound on our tenth anniversary, the Bible with study notes written on every page. We began to pray. We called and asked others to pray. We had to get that suitcase back!
As I spoke to the Lord about the suitcase, He spoke to my heart. Isn’t it amazing how the realization of what was inside the suitcase changed its value? So it is with My people. You may look at someone and see only filthy rags, but I see a beautiful creation and a possible dwelling place for My Son, and that makes them valuable.
Never again will I look at the dirty and downtrodden the same way. I realized that day that each person has great value as a possible container of something – Someone – very special, Jesus Christ, God’s own Son. He stands at the doors of many who, in our eyes may appear as lost luggage, filled with filthy rags. But now when I see such a person, I try to imagine, as though I had X-ray vision, a little black Bible hidden somewhere among the clutter, and I can see them as my Heavenly Father sees them –valuable, dearly loved, and precious.
Let’s Pray
Dear Father, help me to remember that beautiful treasures are often contained in most unlikely packages. Help me to view each person in my world as God sees them –as a possible conduit for the Holy Spirit created by God.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Do you enjoy collecting jewelry or other small items of great value? You can turn each one of these personal treasures into a prayer and ministry opportunity. You will need the following:
5-10 of your favorite valuables; and a safe place to put them, yet visible so you don’t forget that they have a purpose for this activity.
5-10 names of people you have a desire to begin seeing as God’s treasures. These may be people that have not accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. They may be people who do know Christ, yet you have a difficult time loving or viewing as valuable to God. There may also be someone you know who has a difficult time loving themselves or seeing their life with value and purpose.
A pen or pencil
A pad of small-sized sticky notes
Write the name of each person, separately, on a sticky-note or label tab.
Then place each sticky-note/label tab on a separate valuable.
Place the valuables where you will see them daily, and commit to pray for each person listed on each object accordingly.
To comment on today’s devotion, visit www.sharonjaynes.com/blog.
PS. This is for those of you who read to the end J, we did get the suitcase back – Bible intact.
More From The Girlfriends
Today’s devotion was taken from Sharon’s book, Becoming a Woman who Listens to God. This resource will help anyone who longs to hear God’s voice in their daily lives! You can find it at http://www.sharonjaynes.com/.
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