As I write this note it’s quiet. My family hasn’t awakened. Birds aren’t greeting each other. The wind is not whispering through the trees. The neighborhood isn’t clamoring with activity. The sun has yet to announce a new day. Early mornings provide me clarity of thought and a connection with God which can get crowded out as the demands of the day call for my attention. What voices compete for your attention each day—memories, emotions, fears, anxiety, doubt, trauma, family, friends, coworkers, authorities, advisors, entertainment, advertising, or news? Some voices seek to build you up, but others intend to tear you down. Which do you listen to? I have found that only one voice truly matters—the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd. Like David wrote in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3). Jesus’ voice imparts life, truth, and wisdom. Only by it I can properly process all the other voices.
Each day and each week I spend time alone with God to rest, refresh, and reflect. It gives me a chance to focus on two transformative truths: God is worthy of all praise and he counts me worthy to be a sheep in his fold—a beloved child in his family. Brennan Manning in his book Abba’s Child wrote, “Living in awareness of our belovedness is the axis around which the Christian life revolves.” Make resting in God and reflecting on God a rhythm of your life. That way you won’t miss the fact that your relationship with him defines your identity, your purpose, your joy, and your destiny. He is foundational to who you are, where you are going, and how you will get there. No matter what other voices may say to devalue or defeat you, you are priceless because God made you. Above every other voice, Jesus is calling you, “I created you. I love you. I died and rose again for you so you can be saved from sin and death. I want you to be one with me, to represent me, and to experience my abundant life now and forever. Take my hand. Come, share my life and my love.”
Worthy to Be Loved
You are precious and worth loving not because of your beauty, wealth, status, or merit, but because God made you in his likeness (Genesis 1:26-28). God loves you unconditionally. He can’t not love you, because love is not just an action for God. It is the core of who he is. God is love (1 John 4:16). He graciously invites you to partake in the the pure and overflowing love expressed within his triune nature of Father, Son, and Spirit. That’s why he made you—to share in the exuberant love he has within himself. Jesus taught, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Nothing this world offers can compare with knowing and loving God (Psalm 40:4-5, 63:3; Philippians 3:7-14). The apostle Paul explained this incredible love that believers experience. It compels people to move from living for themselves in rebellion against God into blessed unity with God. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:1-10).
Worthy to Be Saved
Because you are loved, you are worth saving. God doesn’t want anyone to continue living for themselves in sin, separated from him, and on a path of destruction and eventual torment in hell (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4). Jesus, God the Son, has done everything to change this dreadful outcome which everyone apart from him faces. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). In his life, death, and resurrection Jesus meets all the needs of those who trust him. He is the good shepherd so you have a loving companion, counselor, and commander who has laid down his life for you (John 10:14-16). Jesus is the light of the world so you no longer need to grope in the darkness (John 8:12, 10:9-10). Jesus is the bread of life so you no longer need to hunger and thirst (John 6:35). Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Apart from him you won’t ever find lasting purpose, hope, meaning, joy, love, or eternal life (John 14:6). Jesus is the true vine. You can be a branch in Christ, drawing abundant life from him and bearing fruit because of him. Apart from him you can do nothing of eternal significance (John 15:5-8).
Yet it’s not what you can do for God or give to God which makes you worthy. What he has done for you, proves your worth. Jesus explained this in numerous parables like the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7), the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), the lost son (Luke 15:11-32), the hidden treasure (Matthew 13:44), the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46), and the great banquet (Luke 14:12-24). In Jesus’ actions on your behalf can you see that you are worth saving? Will you receive his forgiveness and salvation? Jesus is calling you, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:25-30). You are worth saving and if you receive God’s gift of salvation no one, can take it from you. Likewise no trial, persecution, or tragedy can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:31-39).
Worthy to Be Used
God not only counts you worthy to be saved from sin and eternal torment, but he counts you worthy to be used for a glorious mission. Jesus told his followers, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Like he did with Jesus, God wants to work through you to reach other people with his love and salvation. He is calling you to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). As his minister of reconciliation, he is calling you to be his hands, his feet, and his voice to help others come to know him (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). He is calling you to go and make disciples of all people, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has taught you (Matthew 29:18-20). As you are involved in his mission of saving people, God transforms you to become more like Jesus so you are ready to reign with him when he returns to consummate his righteous kingdom and establish a new heaven and earth (2 Timothy 2:11-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-3; Matthew 25:14-30; Daniel 7:27; Revelation 2:26-27, 5:9-10, 19:11-21:8). By God’s grace and power, the greatest activity you can be involved in is loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:34-39). What a blessing it is that God counts you worthy to be with him, to be like him, and to do what he does now and forever.
Conclusion
God loves you and wants you to be united with him. He wants to save you, and will work through you to save others. Your intimacy with God is your greatest gift to the world. Take time each day and each week to rest in his presence. Let Jesus guide you as a good shepherd. Converse with him and listen to his voice more than any other. Count yourself worthy in Jesus, then reach out to others and show them their God-given worth.