If I could scan the bar code on your wrist - what would it tell me you’re worth?  Rocky Balboa was asked why he would fight Apollo Creed and risk having his head split open – his answer was this…

I'm gonna know for the first time in my life …  that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood. (Rocky 1976)

If he could only go the distance in that fight with that man – he would know, he would finally know, that he was worth something!  That his life had a value, that he was more than just a bum.  His barcode would finally show HE was worth something.  Rocky found his value in what he achieved in the boxing ring…

Where do you find your value? We all want to be worth something, but there are three ways that we can try to deceive ourselves about WHAT makes us valuable…

1. What I do / achieve – We push through life and make something of ourselves.  We strive for success in whatever arena we find meaning.  While we ride the wave of success we feel the barcode on our wrist ringing and affirming us at every step.  BUT… when the success fails, the deception is exposed as a cheap substitute, we are left with nothing, we ARE nothing.
2. What I have – We acquire, we gather, we store.  Clothes, possessions, family, whatever we attach worth to.  BUT… when it is taken away, the deception is exposed as a cheap substitute, we are left with nothing, we ARE nothing.
3. What people say about me – We crave and pursue people’s approval.  We need to be recognised, respected, appreciated and when we are, we thrive.  BUT… when people turn on us, criticise us, ignore or reject us, the deception is exposed as a cheap substitute, we are left with nothing, we ARE nothing.

But there is a fourth way, a way that is true but takes humility to accept.

4. Who I am in Christ – Our true value comes not from ‘what we do’, ‘what we have’ or ‘what people say’.  Our value comes from WHO WE ARE.  We are God’s handy work, the God who created us is the God of heaven and earth, he loves us and cares for us and gives us our value.  BUT… we are flawed, we have rejected this wonderful God, rejected his love, his design for us.  Yet because of his great love he sent his only Son Jesus Christ to die for us… When we trust in Jesus THAT is where we find our value.

Created by a loving God, rescued by a loving Saviour.  For those who trust in Jesus, the barcode on our wrist says…

You are worth the precious blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the Cross…     You're Flawed but You’re Priceless.

What are you worth?