BIG IDEA – You Are Worth It.

Pierre Omidyar opened his doors for business on September 3, 1995. He had the idea to hold a world-wide garage sale – from his home! Everyone in the world could buy or sell their most prized possessions without ever leaving the comfort of their own home.

The Concept: An Online Garage Sale
The Company: eBay

The geniusness (is that a word?) of the idea is in the meeting of simplicity and need. Everyone has a prized possessions (junk, useless or outdated items, gifts that will never be used, etc) that they want to get rid of. So Pierre created a place where you could put your stuff up for auction and wait to see what people would pay for your prized (or not so prized) possessions.

Over the years there have been some interesting items that have been auctioned or at least attempted to be auctioned off on eBay. Take a look…
UFO Detector: $135.03
Meaning of Life: $3.26
Vampire Killing Kit: $4,550.00
Serial Killer’s Finger Nails: $9.99
Jay Leno Unofficial Sock Puppet: $0.01
Jesus Christ Rookie Card: $71.04
Cathedral Pickle Jar $44,100.00
“Air” Guitar: $5.50
Ghost in a Jar: Never Sold

So let me ask you two questions. These are not the type of questions that you can quickly think about and pass on by (Like.. Why does Jud like the Dallas Cowboys? Or why is the sky blue?). Spend a few minutes – think about it. Then write your answers down.

If you were to be sold on eBay:

1. What would you put as your starting bid?
2. What do you think someone would pay for you?

Let me get straight to the point: What do you think you are “worth”? Interesting question isn’t it? Personally, I don’t think what I had ever thought about that question before. So I did what any normal person would do — I found a website that actually calculates your “worth”. Yeah I was kind of shocked to find a website that was dedicated to this life-changing venture. It only takes you ten to fifteen minutes to fill out a series of questions about yourself, and then you get a dollar amount. The entire thing intrigued me, so I did it. Ten minutes later, I found out that I was worth approximately 2.5 million dollars.

DIG In

Read: Luke 12:6-7.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies[a]? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Did you catch it? Within two simple verses, Jesus paints an amazing picture of what you are “WORTH” to Him. Let me quickly explain.

Back in biblical times you would actually go to the temple and present an animal sacrifice to God (there is a lot more to this, but I am trying to keep Day One to ten minutes). If you didn’t have an animal to sacrifice, you could go to the temple and buy an animal (I think the called it “fast food sacrifice”… or maybe not). Your wealth would determine what type of animal you could buy. If you had enough money, you would purchase a lamb. If you were poor, you would buy a sparrow. The merchants would sell you two sparrows for one copper coin. That would be worth approximately $1.00 today. Not that much. If I were to give you a brand new, crisp $1.00 bill, how quickly would you spend it? Fast! It would be gone before you knew it and you probably wouldn’t really remember where it went. Back to the sparrows; Jesus does something interesting, and if you dig a little deeper you will catch it. Here’s a hint: Jesus said, five sparrows for two copper coins.

If you were good at elementary school math, you will excel at this quiz.

If 2 sparrows = 1 copper coin
Then 1 sparrow = X copper coin
So, 5 sparrow = X copper coins.

Is there a type? Did Jesus mess up on the math? If two sparrows equal one copper coin, then four sparrows would equal two copper coins. That means five sparrows would equal two and a half copper coins. It’s simple math. I don’t think Jesus messed up on His math; I think Jesus was trying to get His point across. He was so desperately trying to make it clear.

The Point: The value of a sparrow is so little that a merchant would just throw an extra sparrow in for free.

MY Life:

So, if God values every sparrow.. if God has numbered every hair on your head… if God finds you more valuable then an entire flock of sparrows… then how much do you think you are worth?

STOP.

Don’t write a dollar amount. Just write this word: PRICELESS.

Stop for a moment and let this truth soak in. Let this truth sink down to the deepest part of your soul. God sees you as priceless. You are His creation. He has made you. You are perfect. You are HIS. The world that you live in — the culture that surrounds you — is constantly trying to say you don’t “look” like you should, you aren’t smart enough, and you will never accomplish anything great. Everyday you wake up to the though, “I am not good enough.”

IT’S A LIE!
YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!
YOU ARE PRICELESS!!
EBAY BIDDERS CAN’T AFFORD YOU!!

THE Warp

Starting today: _______ (Write out the date).
You are going to choose to go through life saying to yourself: I am priceless.

• When you feel all alone in this world.
• When you feel like you are not respected or valued at work.
• Whenever you look in the mirror and dislike what you see.
• When you start comparing yourself to someone else.
• Whenever someone looks down on you for the clothes your wearing.

To wrap this up, over the next twenty-eight days when you get up or when you go to bed, consider what God will do or what He has done to show you are PRICELESS.

CONVERSATION STARTER:
What is it about you that God truly values.