July 25, 2023 - Worth

     Over the weekend I received in the mail the first major batch of invoices for the medical treatments.  It is hard to find the right words to describe how I felt. 
     The first number that caught my attention was the cost of one of the chemotherapy infusions.  The approved charge was for over 100K.  For one treatment.
      My “numbers focused” brain kicked into high gear.  I quickly counted the number of treatments I have had and multiplied that by 100.
     Hum.  I don’t think I would be worth that amount if I was kidnapped for ransom. 
     Daybreak could hire two pastors to take my place for the cost of just one treatment.  Our business could replace me with two people for the cost of one treatment. 
     What is the value of a life?  To some not very much when we see the abortion rate.  To some not very much.  We grieve over the statistics of teenagers shooting other teens.
     To others life is very precious.  What some people wouldn’t give for a few more minutes with a loved one.
     How much would Teresa and I be willing to spend for my medical treatments? 
I hit the pool as I was pondering what my life might be worth.  I must admit that I swam my laps a bit more intensely, figuring that if I was worth that much, I ought to make the most of it.
     Later that evening I returned to the invoices with more than a glancing gaze.
     The charge for one chemotherapy treatment was over 100K.   The approved amount was the same.  What was accepted and what was paid for each treatment was less than 10K.
     I think I felt better when I realized that!
     In the back of my mind in all of this pondering over the cost of the medical treatments was what I am worth, what are any of us worth?
More importantly, what is my soul worth?
     Jesus said that it was a bad deal to trade the world for your own soul.  What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
       What is my soul worth to God?  Peter writes that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus.  That is the value of one soul to God.  The precious blood of God’s One and Only Son.
     How can this be, that you my God would die for me?