#Priceless

This week in the online Bible study we have been using #Priceless as our keyword.  I found myself thinking back on those commercials they used to have on television where various things were "Priceless." Then the English teacher in me felt the need to consult the dictionary to see what it said.

According to Miriam Webster, Priceless has several definitions:
1. extremely valuable or important
2. very funny
3. having worth beyond price
4. costly because of rarity or quality
5. so precious that its value cannot be determined

At this point, I must admit that I am a bit of a sentimentalist. If you took the time to come to my home and search through certain boxes or drawers you would find the letters that my sweet husband wrote to me when we were dating, the cards that my daughter has made for me over the years, scraps of cloth from dresses that I made for her, my high school class ring (though it no longer fits), a dress that my aunt made for me when I was an infant (I kept it and my daughter actually wore it too, if only for a photograph), and boxes and boxes full of photos.

To an outsider, these things might seem insignificant...........

But to me, they are priceless pieces of my life.

When I pick up one of those scraps of cloth my mind can instantly flash back to the day when my daughter wore the dress: a hot Kentucky afternoon in late summer, the school Heritage Fair, she wanted so badly to enjoy the festivities, but she was sick and could do little more than lie around and drink fluids. I can instantly remember the way my heart broke for her, that motherly love oozing out.

When I open one of those letters and read the words that my husband wrote to me I can immediately remember those feelings of an emerging love that both of us experienced and the joy I felt when I glimpsed his car pulling into my driveway for our weekly visit.

As priceless as those memories are to me, they do not compare to the love that our heavenly father has for me. With all of my weaknesses, faults, and stumbles he still accepts me exactly as I am. I don't have to try to be something that I am not. Job 34:19 reminds me that God is one "who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the works of his hands."

God loves all of us---- equally--- totally--- perfectly.

This love is truly priceless, so precious that its value cannot be determined.

When I am tired from a week at work that has been overly filled with activity, God reminds me to "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

When I am weak, hesitant to face a challenge, God's word is there to tell me that "the Lord is my strength and shield, my heart trusts in him, and he helps me." Psalm 28:7

When I make a mistake and want to run and hide, I can take solace in the fact that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Yes, God is always there............ He is there to comfort me, to uplift me, to encourage me, to love me................. No one can come between us. Nothing will cause him to turn his back on me. He accepts me, just as I am, warts and all.

A love like this is truly priceless.