“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Memory Verse: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” Romans 8:12-13

Somewhere in the flow a job interview, one of the questions usually asked the potential recruit is “How much is your expected salary?” The hiring manager habitually asks this question to visualise how much the interviewee think their time, experience and effort is worth. As a new graduate it’s understandable that with no experience both the hiring manager and the potential employee may really be on the same page with regards to the value in the response, commonly starting low in terms of salary expectation.

The conversation is pretty comfortable because the employee is most likely younger and inexperienced, may not have paid for their tuition fees and literally have zero investment in themselves except the time they spent studying at the university or college. The subject may even become overly excited because the employer has decided to consider them for the role and for the employer at the stage, they are unwilling to pay much as they consider the risk being taken with a young inexperience individual and likely impact on training and productivity.

As time progresses, the same individual attends another interview but this time with experience, additional certification paid for by themself and good exposure in the employment industry. At this point, the story will be different, salary package negotiation will come into perspective as the individual believes he or she has what it takes to command more. At this time an employer may or may not be willing to negotiate but the individual who at this time think they have actually appreciated in value is definitely unwilling to accept anything less than they think they are worth. I believe we get the bigger picture. Now let’s bring it close to home.

A child of God is priceless! It’s as simples as that right but the devil’s intention is to trample us under his foot until he is able to get in our head. If he starts to succeed, we’ll notice we start to doubt our level of importance. Once that confidence level has been tampered with, it’s a smooth ride for the devil from there because he begins to feed our brains with various ideas. The devil then positions people, more like his disciples around to try intimidating the child of God in attempt to cause them to change priorities, thereby killing the body.

The body and every material thing cannot be forever, so therefore the bible warns us about placing so much value on those things. Placing a lot of worth on thing that really are of no value means we have less time to place value on what really matters. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Mark 8:36.

Today’s reading, Jesus reminds us that our soul belongs to God and this is where our true value lies. God is the only one capable of deciding when the heart stops beating and has the authority to cast anyone into hell therefore its important that as followers of Christ, we understand priorities and place our worth and value where it should be.

Remember this, your true value doesn’t lie in your body or anything the world offers but in your soul. When an individual becomes a child of God, He moves from the ordinary being because he has now become joint heirs with Christ.

The soul of a child of God is invaluable.

PRAYERS:

• Father I thank You for You are my strength and my creator
• I surrender all to you withholding nothing
• I receive the power and grace to resent the devil and not succumb to his tricks
• Thank you for your word which gives life and understanding to the people
• Help me to walk in your paths, choose right, depend on you and not be misguided by men
• I thank You for your unlimited victories which I experience daily
• Help me to see more of you and less of me.
• Help me to be in unity with you Lord and be united as part of the body of Christ.
• Bring me to the understanding to see you for direction always and not be self-reliant
• Help me to be kind and generous to others, fulfilling your commandment of love
• Forgive my sins Lord and answer my prayers, in Jesus’ name, Amen.