“It was $5.00!” excitedly Bear (7years old at the time) was telling me about his new purchase waving a rock in the air. I asked him what did he buy for $5.00. “This rock mom! It is a special rock.” He told me about a boy on the playground that had convinced him that the rock was valuable, and the little boy promised that tomorrow he would bring, “an even more special rock tomorrow,” if Bear would bring $10.

There was nothing spectacular about the rock. It was just an ordinary rock. The kind you would find in any parking lot or playground. The only thing that was different is that someone chose to ascribe value to it, and because of that Bear, my son, was willing to pay a premium price for something that wasn’t worth anything at all.

Diamonds are the most expensive rocks on the earth. Not because they are the most rare, but because someone decided to value them higher than any other rock. They are, after all, just a rock. The only thing that makes them valuable is that someone chose to believe that they were valuable. Now, people pay thousands of dollars for what some would call “just a rock.”

You see it is the owner of the object that has the right to give the value and worth to the object. It doesn’t matter if it is a used sofa being sold on a online garage sale site or a computer in a store.

Which makes me wonder, who in your life talked you out of valuing yourself? When did you stop seeing how special and wonderful you are? When did you start seeing your talents as things that make you weird instead of make you valuable? Could it be that you have been underselling yourself? Maybe it is time for you to go back to your original owner to find out your value.

Jesus, when faced with the thought of going into eternity without you gave His life so that you might be brought into a right relationship with Him. This week as we go into Easter I want to remind you that you are so loved. To Jesus you were worth it all. You can come to him with all your flaws, imperfections, and mistakes.

Today, I want you to know that you are SO loved.