You Matter to God!

Isaiah 43: 1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6 I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." (NRSV)

You can always come home. Those words may have come in through your ears or out of your mouth, but they were special to hear and to say. I heard those from my Dad when I left for college and years later I spoke those words to my children. It is a statement of great love from a parent to a child, that as long as you live and you have a place, that place is open to them. For a child, it should speak a message of comfort that if anything goes wrong or we do not quite accomplish what we set out to do, there's a place where we can go. God speaks this same message to the people of Israel, whose actions were not always the greatest towards God. They had a history of being like rebellious children who one day loved and followed God, the next they were on their own thinking they knew more than God. But God spoke these words through Isaiah and then years later spoke them to Jesus, through Whom God spoke again of our importance to God. "I have called you by name, you are mine." (v. 1). "Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you." (v4) "Do not fear, for I am with you." (v. 5).

Jesus' main message was the same; we matter to God. Through His own baptism, Jesus heard God speak of His love towards Jesus and in return, towards us. We are precious in God's sight. We have honor in God's opinion, and we are loved by God. Do not let anyone or anything tell you otherwise. We matter to God. It is a message the Church needs to share with those who are outside of the church. We need to turn away from the inward focus of most churches, towards reaching those whose lives reflect an attitude of worthlessness to share with them this message of importance in God's sight. God wants His sons and daughters to return to a relationship with Him.

What are you doing about it?

PRAYER: Loving God, we thank You and praise You for this message of invitation and reconciliation. Help me to live this message. Help me to share with others that we do matter to you and that we are precious in Your sight. May I be part of the catalyst in my church that helps us focus on those who have not yet heard nor received this message. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde