There is a lot of talk today about a person’s worth. What is your net worth? At tax time, many look through their files, counting up their expenses, measuring what to do with their wealth and trying to come up with a bottom dollar value of their worth. But your value is so much more than your bottom line or being in the black.
Matthew told us that he could purchase two sparrows for a farthing (Matt. 10:29). Where Luke shopped, he found a better value because he received five sparrows for two farthings. The fifth sparrow is the subject of this discourse. The fifth sparrow was much like a baker’s dozen. It had little if any economic value. Sparrows were sold for so little that the shopkeeper said, “I will throw in another just for your choosing my business.” The one was just kind of tossed in with the others. Its value was demeaned by its position in life.
Do you ever feel like the fifth sparrow? Has life delegated you to the “thrown in” category? You are not quite valuable enough to be considered special or unique, therefore, you are simply just another person, just another soul, just another Christian.
Perhaps your journey has brought you to the place where the enemy of your soul has killed, stolen or destroyed the thing you loved about being a Christian and you now feel even less than you used to feel. My dear, precious friend, please know that even though the fifth sparrow had no economic value, the Scripture’s principle is that not even one sparrow falls without His knowledge. The world in which you live may not recognize where you are, but know that God says very specifically that His, “Foundation… standeth sure, having this seal; the Lord knoweth them that are His…” (2 Tim 2:19)
You are unique in that you have never been before and will never be again. You are a once in a lifetime creation! Allow His mercy and grace to guide you. Yes, you may be a fifth sparrow but He knows where you are even when you fall. Your value to Him has never diminished and never will. You will fly again!
Brother Gary Arthur attends Cornerstone UPC in Winchester, Virginia, Pastor Jeffrey Dillon.
