Real Value

TITLE: Real Value
DATE:  September 13, 2019
TEXT:. TEXT: Ephesians 2:8-9 – ESV - 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Steven Nelms is a practical man.

When he got married to Gloriana (Glory), 3-years ago, they decided it made sense for her to work and finish putting him through College.

When she became pregnant they decided that since Glory’s salary would just about pay for child support she would stay at home and be a full time Mother.

This couple made the difficult decision that once their son was born, his wife (the mom) would stay home and care for their son, house and home. That’s the way it was supposed to stay, unless something happened to upset the applecart.
Well, something did upset the apple cart.

The other day Steven came home and announced he no longer could afford  Glory to be a full-time Mom.  Glory was surprised. She hadn’t heard any wolves howling at their door so she asked her husband to explain. He did by explaining he had put a dollar value on her work. He said...

• The national average weekly salary for a full-time nanny is $705. That's $36,660 a year.
• Cleaning Service: $50-100 per visit once a week = $5,200 a year.
• Personal Shopper (running the errands like buying groceries and "a new pack of white undershirts"): $65 per hour at 4 hours a week = $13,525 a year.
• Chef (lunch and dinner): $240 a week = $12,480 a year.
  

That added up to $67,860, and those are bargain basement prices. But there’s more...

• Financial Assistant (paying the bills, finances, budgeting): $15 an hour -
•  PR assistant for his work is $75 per hour.
• Laundry: $25 a week, minimum.
  

He concluded: :Our income doesn't even come close to covering what she does for our family. In short, I can't afford for my wife to stay at home. And I've tragically failed to show my wife the appreciation that she deserves. She loves me, loves our son, and loves our family, so obviously she isn't doing any of those things for a paycheck or even for recognition.”

Now I like what Steven figured out here. And I tried to do the same... but for our Savior. I wondered what value can I put on Him...

• $______.__ leaving heaven’s glory and being born in a dirty province of the Roman empire
• $______.__ being rejected by his hometown and considered to be insane by His own family.
• $______.__ resisting the temptations of Satan and fulfilling the law for ungrateful humanity.
• $______.__  carrying the sins of the world, when He was innocent of all wrongdoing.
• $______.__ being deserted by His friends, denied by another and betrayed by one more.
• $______.__having His church try Him unfairly; His government deny Him justice.
• $______.__being whipped, beaten crowned with thorns and crucified.

The bottom line is I  can’t afford Him, nor could the world. Which is why what Jesus has done is called grace.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for all You have done all I can say is “Thank You” and try to live my life in a way which honors You. In Your Name. Amen.

The devotion for today was inspired by various recent news articles. For further reading you may wish to go to this address: https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/will-maule/yale-professor-rejects-darwinism-says-intelligent-design-is-a-serious-theory.html and the article written by  Stacie Marshall.
The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html