‘More Than Chinet’

With just Ann and I in the house now, we’re cooking for two and we’re getting into the habit of serving up dinner as simply as possible.  When I cook, that means paper plates.  Stop the dishwasher, save the money. So guess what we do with the plates when we’ve finished? No, we don’t wash it; we don’t save it for later. Now look, I've never had a lot of money, but I've never in my whole life saved a paper plate (even the laminated, use again kind—though I’ve thought about it). I don’t care if I throw it away, of course, like you probably do. And I don't feel any great sense of loss or regret, "Oh, I can't believe I lost my paper plate." No, it doesn't bother me.

But (always a but), we have these other plates at our house we call heirlooms. They have been passed down from generation to generation. We keep them in a cabinet in our dining room and we save them for special occasions.

Can you say Thanksgiving? Turkey, stuffing, gravy and pumpkin pie? Mmm… We wash those plates when we use them, because they are the "fine china". And when we're done, we put those plates away very carefully. In fact, if you drop one of them, you're out of the family, you are the prodigal—kidding. What's the difference? Paper plates are cheap, practically worthless, right? You throw them away. Now, fine china on the other hand is expensive; it's too valuable to throw away. Do you know which one most people feel like today?

I think most people feel like paper plates. They've been put down, they've been hurt, they've been neglected, they've been compared, they've been ignored, backstabbed, abused, and they feel pretty worthless. And they are throwing themselves away. Maybe you know someone whose been doing that. It's a lot of waste to throw yourself away. People throw their lives away socially by the friends they choose, or academically by not trying or just giving up. They throw it away alcoholically, chemically, or romantically. And here's what's so tragic about that - God didn't make any paper plates! They think they’re not worth much. You're wrong about who you are. Anyone who has treated you like you're not worth much doesn't know who you are either. The one who knows what you are is the One who gave you your life in the first place - your Creator. And here's how He feels about you.

Exodus 19:5 says, "You will be," God says, "my treasured possession." God says you are a treasure; you are fine china! You're not trash! You're too valuable to throw away, but there's more in God's appraisal of what you're worth.

Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are God's workmanship." Now, workmanship isn't thrown together, it's no accident, it's not random. You're a masterpiece; you're a handmade creation of a God who only does beautiful work. And then it goes on to say in that verse that you are designed, "...for good works He prepared in advance for us to do." You are uniquely designed to make a unique difference in certain people's lives. But there's more.

1 Corinthians 6:20 says, "You were bought at a price, therefore honor God with your body."  God says you're His treasure, His workmanship, and the one He paid a lot for. You can tell how much a person values something by how much they're willing to pay for it. Well, God paid for you with the blood of His one and only Son, Jesus, and even though you were outside of His Creator plan for you because of sin, He wanted you back so much He sent His Son to pay the death penalty in your place. You are very expensive!

So don't believe the lies in your brain that keep telling you you're a paper plate, that you're worthless, that keep tempting you to throw yourself away. You are fine china! You're to be reserved for special purposes. If you feel like you're not worth much, then it's time to pay a visit to the cross where Christ died for you. That's how much God thinks you're worth - the life of His Son.

You know, the reason people feel so worthless is that they are away from the One who gave us our worth in the first place. Do you know anyone who may feel worthless, who has been neglected and thrown away? Reach out to them, be Christ to them and show them how much God thinks they’re worth.

And live like the treasure that your Creator says you are—Art