Just a Piece of Paper
Stamps are just pieces of paper, right? Wrong! For example that so-called “piece of paper” in the left hand corner of this article, is an Australian £1 Kangaroo stamp, valued at $200.
You will notice that it is date stamped March 1931, but if it were date stamped prior to 1913, the value of this little “piece of paper” jumps to $600! My wife and I have been collecting stamps for years, but the only time we get to do anything with them is when we are on our two weeks holidays! But that’s by the by.
I assume you have worked out why these “little pieces of paper” are so valuable - because they are rare. It’s a question of supply and demand. If the demand outstrips the supply, prices go up. The stamp shown is very rare for the simple reason that £1 in 1931 would be the equivalent of $300 today (I am only guessing!)?
Because only a few people would have paid that amount to send parcels, Australia Post would not have printed too many of these stamps. So if you are a collector of these rare “pieces of paper”, then make sure you keep them in a safe place, and able to be rescued easily if the occasion should arise.
Now if you're trying to do what's right in a world where nearly everyone else is doing what's wrong, you get to feeling kind of lonely sometimes, don't you? And even weird? In fact, the people with whom you work, or play, or go to school, or even some of your family members, may basically tell you that you're weird because you don't want to do the things they do. And, after a while, that can start to get to you and even wear down your resistance. You get tired of being different from everybody else.
But if you're basically standing alone, doing the right thing, you're not weird - you're rare. Ask any collector - whether it's postcards, antiques, stamps, coins - and the answer is the same: what makes an item valuable is that there aren't many of them. The less there is of any item, the more valuable it becomes.
If you're taking your stand, doing things God's way, you are responding to God’s love for you in Christ - in loving obedience. Yes, there may not be many people living by the standards you are. But that doesn't make you weird; it makes you valuable because there aren't many like you!
In His final hours before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to His Father on behalf of all those who believed in Him at that time and all those who would believe in Him through the years. Listen to a portion of Christ’s prayer from John 17, beginning with verse 15: "My prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world."
"Sanctify them," Jesus prayed. That means "set them aside for special purposes. Keep them special, reserved for Your purposes." Jesus wanted to plant you right in the middle of a dark world to be light there. Which means that, just like Him, you're going to take some abuse, some name-calling, and some rejection for your allegiance to Him. But not because there's something wrong with you. There's something very right with you!
The fewer honest men and women there are, the more valuable and honest these persons become. The fewer people there are like you who say no to what's dirty, what's destructive, what's negative, the more your worth increases. Maybe you've been tempted to cave in. You've got combat fatigue; there's heavy pressure. Don't do it. Not only is Jesus counting on you, but the very people who are pressuring you, desperately need you to stand firm, or their only light will go out. Because you're Jesus' personal representative in a dark place, in many ways you aren't like everybody else. You need to keep loving them and doing the right thing without condemning them. You keep doing all of that, and you're going to be, whether they admit it or not, one of the most important people in their life. Because people like you are rare and very, very valuable.
As you approach Easter, remember that Jesus did an extremely rare thing for you - in fact His act was one of a kind. As Christ was the only person without sin, He alone was able to die and pay the penalty for your sins. Christ gave His all. In response to His love, He regarded you as precious enough to die for you. Surely you can do no other, than to give your all to Him. That may be a rare thing, but one that will bring you true joy and result in blessings to others. Jesus said to His Father: “As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them (you) into the world." The Lord keep you special, reserved for His purposes. Grace and peace.....