What makes something valuable?

Don't you find it strange that a thin piece of plastic with "$100" written on it is so sought after in society today? Money has no value in its self, it is only the value that we put on it. Value is really determined by the price you are willing to pay for it. If you paid $1,000 for a watch, would you wear it working in the garden or doing building work? No way. You might damage it. You would look after it. Value effects how we treat things.

Value is really the price that you will pay to obtain something. Actions work on this principal. The person who is willing to pay the most for the item, gets it. I want to share with you a poem that really spoke to me and highlights this concept of value.

'Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"

But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.

"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

"And many a man with life out of tune
All battered and bruised with hardship
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

Do you sometimes feel like that old dusty, out of tune violin? Cast aside as worthless, in dusty corner, and forgotten? Well guess what, the Master knows your true value and he wants to be able to demonstrate it. If you let Him, He will dust you off and tune you up, so that you can, in your daily life, be sweet music to others.

In perhaps the most famous quote in the Bible, John 3:16, the real value of one person is clearly and beautifully portrayed:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

God paid the ultimate price for you, my friends. That was in giving His Son to die for you. That is the highest price that can be paid. How valuable is God? The Bible tells us that Jesus is God. (John 1:1-3) That means that the price paid for you is equal to that of God Himself! This is where your true value lies. How should you treat yourself, and others with this thought in mind? Humanity has a Divine value placed on it. Let us never forget this. Let us learn our true value and never look down on ourselves or anyone else, but look to Jesus Who is our Saviour!