{"id":509,"date":"2010-07-30T12:01:49","date_gmt":"2010-07-30T12:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/07\/god-starts-the-bidding-at-infinity.html"},"modified":"2010-07-30T12:01:49","modified_gmt":"2010-07-30T12:01:49","slug":"god-starts-the-bidding-at-infinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/07\/god-starts-the-bidding-at-infinity.html","title":{"rendered":"God Starts the Bidding at Infinity"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

We’re obsessed with building self esteem. That’s futile. What does it matter what I think of myself? When we stupidly grant one human the right to “choose” whether or not another human has “right to life” we have shattered the value of our own souls. Is it any wonder we suffer from an epidemic of low self esteem? We have taken out God-esteem from the human equation and in its placed put on us all the burden of estimating our own worth. God have mercy! We never calculate our own value accurately. We never can. We will always under value our souls. We are too small and finite and our lives are too short to see things clearly. NO! God alone can set the price of value. And he does, by starting the bidding for our souls at infinity, a value that only be matched by the life of his own son… <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 139:13-16 is our certificate of estimated value! <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
      and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
      Your workmanship is marvelous–how well I know it.
 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
      as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
 16 You saw me before I was born.
      Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
   Every moment was laid out
      before a single day had passed. <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

I am designed by you, God. I am intended. I am no accident. I have purpose because you, my God purposed me. I have a role in your story. I am not my own because you created me. I will not steal from you, God. I cannot finally life my own way. That is futile. Accepting the fact that my body is not my own, that my mind and time and emotions and will and all the gifts and passions I believe I possess are not possessions at all is my next step in seeing reality as it reality. I am dis-illusioned from the illusion of autonomy. You made me and therefore you ALONE claim ownership and the right of possession. I cannot sanely or legally make my own way. You allow me to attempt independence, but I fail when I try it. I am wonderful and precious because I am your workmanship. My value and esteem comes from your estimation. You are the assessor of value. You have made me a marvel, a balance and a bridge between the physical and material worlds. Humans alone live in both dimensions. What a mystery and wonder! You started my life as a single cell, brought together in my mother’s womb. Blessed be that moment, the creation of a life that will live forever. My value is not in my own estimation but in your own declaration. And from that moment you etched the fullness of my life and all my days in the granite wall of eternity. You see it all before it is, for time is different for you, a ONE MOMENT past and present and future, that I walk out in sequence, that you see and experience in one living PRESENT. I cannot fathom this, but I can almost imagine it. Today I accept the value you place upon me. I don’t see that value myself. Often I consider myself worthless, just an accidental mass of bios. But this is illusion. I am worth what you are willing to pay for me. And you have paid the final price, the top bid for the right to woo me into a relationship. You set my price. You call my life “Good” and by your own efforts – not mine – call me “The righteousness of God in Christ.” This knowledge is too much for me, to wonderful, to glorious to grasp or appreciate. Give me the power to know and accept this truth… I am precious to you.” <\/strong><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re obsessed with building self esteem. That’s futile. What does it matter what I think of myself? When we stupidly grant one human the right to “choose” whether or not another human has “right to life” we have shattered the value of our own souls. 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He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the author of \"Six Prayers God Always Answers: Results May Vary,\" and \"Nine Ways God Always Speaks: Only Available in Certain States,\" both co-written with Jennifer Schuchmann. His third book is \"The Karma of Jesus.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mark is a native of Santa Cruz, California. He has studied at Azusa Pacific University, The Academy of Performing Arts, Cambridge, Ontario, and Luther Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. from Regent University. Mark and his wife Jill have four children. His true passion is walking with people in the exciting adventure of communicating with God.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/author\/mherringshaw"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}