Face Value

By Gobel Brockman


I begin by asking you to use your imagination. I want you to picture two $20 bills lying before you. The one on the left is new. No creases, no tears, no stains. You pick it up and the paper is so crisp you almost get a paper cut. You can smell the aroma of Federal Reserve ink. Now look at the one on the right. It's old and crumpled up. The edges are torn. The ink has faded. Someone has taken a black pen and given President Jackson a black eye and a dunce cap. The only smell remaining is from the pockets and purses of countless people. Now, here's the question: if you pick up the new one on the left and head to your local Wal-Mart, how much product could you buy with it? Simple - $20 worth. If you go back in a few moments later with the old one on the right, how much product could you buy? You're correct - $20 worth. My point? $20 is $20.

I remember when I became a Christian at age 18. It was an incredible time in my life. Everything was new. The Bible refers to it as being "born again", and that's exactly how I felt. The drugs and booze that had caused me so many problems were instantly gone. There was a new joy and purpose in my life. It seemed that prayers would barely leave my mouth and the answers would come. Then, little by little, things began to get a bit more difficult. God didn't answer prayer as fast as before. Complications arose from unexpected places. Reality began to set in that Christianity wasn't all up-tempo hymns and Welch's grape juice in Communion cups. People could still hurt you. You still had to get up and earn a living. Sometimes God's answers to prayer were either "Trust Me" or a flat-out "No, just wait." Over the years, some of the newness had worn off. Reality had given me some rough edges. Life had given me a few black eyes, and many times I felt like I deserved to be wearing a 'dunce hat'. The thing is, I know I'm not the only one that's faced that. Perhaps you've had relationships that have left you permanently torn. Maybe life has left you feeling that you've been left in somebody's pocket and spun in the wash cycle a time or two. But here's the point I want to make:

     We may have lost some luster, but we haven't lost our value.

You and I are worth as much to God now as when we started. Yes, we have some wear. We may be marred and scarred. But we also have some incredible stories to share about the way God chose to 'spend' us in His kingdom. Like a well-traveled $20 bill, we've been used by God to do a lot. Much more than that, He still has unmeasurable love for us. He doesn't just see us as something to spend as He pleases, He sees us as people worth laying down His life for. Which should make us all the more desirous to be willing to be spent as He wishes. So don't grow weary. You're still worth as much to God as you were in the beginning. He still has many ways to touch other people's lives through you. Don't let the tears, smears, and graffiti get you down - they're just badges of honor of a useful, well-lived life.

You're still in circulation.