"For ye are bought with a price:
 therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God's"
-- 1 Corinthians 6:20

Like I said yesterday, I am collecting a few cards.

And I like to look up their value in a "price guide" to see what they are worth.

Here's where things get a little interesting.

There is a price listed for cards in MINT condition. What that means is, the price a particular card is "valued" at is based upon it being free of defects and imperfections.

There can be no stains or bent corners or creases. No faded coloring or blurry photos or off-center cutting. No flaws of any kind. 

If everything is perfect, then the card is worth the listed price. 

But, when things AREN'T perfect, the card is "graded" at a lower quality like "Near Mint", "Excellent", "Very Good", "Good", "Fair" and "Poor."

For each flaw the card's value goes down percentage points.  Minor flaws might be only a few decreasing value points, while major flaws bring the value down greatly.

And the card is priced accordingly.  It's value is dependent on its condition.  Unflawed is worth more than the same card with one or more imperfections.

Like I also said yesterday, God's Word is the "price guide" for humans.  We are valued so greatly by our Heavenly Father that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins.

That's priceless!

But, here's the  awesome reality of the value that God places upon us...

...He doesn't "down-grade" our value because of our sinful condition!

You see, none of us are perfect.  We are all flawed and blemished.  We all have imperfections and defects in both our conduct and our character.

Think about it.  We have stains of sin.  We have the bent corners of iniquity, the faded coloring of transgressions.

We have flaws.  Too many to mention here.

And yet, despite being off-center with our sinful nature, God still "values" us the same!  He loves us unconditionally, and accepts us wholeheartedly as we are.  He doesn't discount our worth because of our flaws.

Praise His Holy Name!

Christian, again, the message today is that you are PRICELESS in the eyes of God.

God expects us to do our very best for Him.  He expects us to serve Him with our whole hearts and love Him above everything else.  He expects us to live for Him in all we say and do.

But, He knows we won't do it perfectly all the time.

And He loves us in spite of the times we fail Him.

What a Father we have.

Have a "Wonderful DAY in Christ,"
Jimmy D. Brown
\o/ Praise Jesus!