Believe it or not, you are God’s gem!
Have you ever seen the look of delight in a little girl’s eyes when she receives a gift? Her joy increases as she opens the box, and looks at the shiny trinket inside, after which she takes out the gift, taking care not to damage it. After this, the little girl spends hours looking at her gift repeatedly, turning it from side to
side, seeing how it looks in the light, shining it, and putting it carefully in its box. To this little girl, the gift inside the box is the most precious thing in the world. Guess what – to God, you are the precious gift in the box. You are God’s gem!
Let’s see what the Bible has to say about us- his precious possessions.
- God chose you to be his gem
The following verse in Deuteronomy has this to say.
Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.” (NLT)
Oh, my! This verse talks about a holy people, a group of people who belong to God, chosen to be his own special treasure! You are special to the Lord! I am special to the Lord! Why? Because he chose us to be his own – part of his family!
Don’t let anyone put you down because you are going through a period where there is no family or friends to lean on. You are part of God’s family, and you are most certainly God’s gem!
- God made you into his gem
As I wrote this post, one of my favorite verses from Psalm 139 came out in a new light.
Psalm 139:13-14 “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” (NLT)
The reason God made me with such precision is so that I can be one of his gems – shining to the world around me. Each of us was created with gifts that are meant to reveal his glory to the world. In other words – we were not just thrown together – we were created by a skilful master to be his shiny ambassadors in a dark world!
Maybe you don’t feel like God’s gem right now. You may have drifted from what he intends you to do, or you may be going through a dark patch. Well, all you need to do is call on the God who created you, and ask him to polish you and clean up your rough edges so that you can shine again!
- God treasures you
The thought that God treasures me always brings tears to my eyes, especially when I think of all the times I have done things my own way and not trusted in him. In the Old Testament, God continually reminded the Israelites that they were his, even when they grumbled day and night!
Deuteronomy 26:18 “The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands.” (NLT)
Exodus 19:5 “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.” (NLT)
Isaiah 43:4b “Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.” (NLT)
Just in case you think that the words above only applied to the Israelites, check out the verse below from James.
James 1:18 “He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.” (NLT)
Let’s just list the words that indicate that we are God’s gems – special treasure, precious, honored, and prized possession. Remember, every word in the Bible was placed there for our benefit. As such, each of these ‘lovely’ words is true – we are precious, special, honored, and best of all, God considers us his prized possession!
Just to encourage you – is there anybody on this earth who parts readily with a prized possession? Why, then, would God want to part with you, his precious possession, one created in his image, and formed with his own hands? It doesn’t matter what people around you think about you – God considers you precious to him. You are God’s gem!
Let’s conclude with another of my favorite verses.
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (NIV)
God’s special possession. God’s gem.