Phillip
Yancey in his book Reaching for the
Invisible God recounts this
story.
Rosemary had a rag doll. It was her favorite doll and Rosemary went
nowhere without it. The doll went from
new and clean to dirty and threadbare -- but it was the most precious of all of
Rosemary’s possessions. Like Linus and
his blanket, Rosemary could not bear to face life without her rag doll.
When Rosemary’s family moved from
Scotland to America, each family member carefully
 |
| Like Linus and his blanket, Rosemary could not bear to face life without her rag doll. |
selected what possessions to
bring along. Rosemary chose just one
thing: her rag doll. It did not get
packed; it was to stay with her on the trip.
But things took a turn for the worse.
Somehow, in the airport, Rosemary misplaced her rag doll.
The family began a search, retracing
their steps. “Rosemary, do you remember
where you may have laid her down?”, was asked time and time again. Skycaps, ticket agents and restroom
attendants were all asked if they had seen a rag doll. Rosemary became so distraught at the loss of
the doll that the family considered postponing their flight. Time was passing. Nothing else mattered right now because
Rosemary’s rag doll was missing.
Finally the doll was located. As
soon as it was placed in her arms Rosemary became calm. Onlookers were wondering why an old doll had
such value, why parents would run all over an airport and possibly postpone a
flight because of a dirty threadbare rag doll.
In one sense they would have been right. The doll had no worth in
itself; but it had much worth in the girl’s eyes.
You see, some things are loved
because they are worthy; some things are worthy because they are loved. Gorgeous super-models, gifted athletes,
brilliant scientist, priceless works of art, talented actors -- they are loved
because of their inherent worth or ability.
But there are many things, like the rag doll, that have great worth, not
because of some intrinsic value, but because they are loved.
That’s the way it is with God’s
love, and I am thankful for that. God’s
love is not based on our worth; and honestly I am not worthy to be loved by
God. Before He entered my life I was
filled with sin, and even now after walking with Him for over 35 years, I still
sin, mess up, fall and fail -- yet I am still loved. Some things are loved because they are worthy
and some things are worthy because they are loved – you and I fit into the
latter category. St. Augustine said of
God, “By loving the unlovable, You made me loveable.”
In a nutshell that is the story of
Jesus. God loved people so much that He
came to earth and was born of a virgin named Mary. He loved people that were full of sin and
fear, who were selfish and unloving, who had little if any value in themselves
and because of the great love He had for all of us, He gave us eternal
value. He gave us worth.
Some things are loved because they
are worthy; some things are worthy because they are loved. God loves you; you are worthy.
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