COGWA Members App
Feast App
ROKU AppGod’s Treasures
Written by Chant’a Collier
Treasured heirlooms can help us understand how God cherishes His people.
Is there something that you truly value? Is there something that you have that you worry about loaning to others?
In the summer of 2009, I received my great-grandmother’s Bible from my great-aunt. It has water damage and the hard cover came off when I brought it home. But overall the book is in good shape, with the exception of the first few pages. We don’t know if there was family history written in it or not, but Genesis to Revelation is intact.
This is a treasured gift to me, and it will be a while before the grandchildren are allowed to touch it. We will repair the cover, and it will be tucked away as a prized possession along with a very old hymnal that my husband’s grandmother gave me days before she died.
My aunt asked to borrow that hymnal, since it contained very old songs she wanted show her choir director. But then my aunt thought she lost the hymnal! I was hurt and felt guilty because in my mind I had given away a treasure.
Thankfully, the book was found and has been placed away for safe keeping with the family Bible.
I think these two books represent how God views us.
Lost and tattered
Satan is the author of the water damage, and he wants us to be lost and hidden away from God. Unknown to us, we were without God in the world. We did not know Him and were content in the state we found ourselves. We didn’t know something was missing in our lives. Just like the hymnal, we were lost; and like the family Bible, we had water damage. We were exposed to the elements and tattered by the world.
God found us and saw the value. He took us in and started the process of repairing us. His deep love, mercy and kindness toward us healed our tattered hearts and minds. He replaced the water damaged pages of our lives with new pages revealing our future with Him.
Cherished
After God restores us, He treasures us. God does not share His possessions with those who will not cherish them the way He does. He leaves us in the world, but we are not of the world.
Satan can’t and won’t have us, because God will not allow us to be handed over to him. God wants us totally devoted to Him. When He says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3), He means it. He has imparted to us His Spirit as a down payment of being fully restored. His Spirit helps us to love and devote ourselves to Him. It teaches us to worship Him in spirit and truth.
He knows we can finish this course. That’s why we are here today. We cannot serve two masters. He will not allow us to be double-minded and be part of His Kingdom. He tells us—He pleads with us—to come out of this world’s system and to not be partakers of the sin that is in the world. He also indicates that the world is not worthy of us. That’s how valuable we are to Him.
Not just us
God’s love is for all humanity, and He calls us now to be an example to His future children at a later date. They will see that they are damaged and lost and will not understand how God can restore their lives.
As God’s treasure today, we can share with them what He has done for us. We can help others to understand just how unworthy we all are, but how much value our Creator sees in us. In a not-so-distant future, we will be fully restored and display to others what their future will be. We will show them tomorrow how God sees us today.
Chant’a Collier and her husband, Rodney, attend the Atlanta, Georgia, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.
Related reading:
