Standing Ovation
By Grant Gaines
In 1890, the United States Department of the Treasury printed the “Grand Watermelon”—a $1,000 bill. Knowing that not too many of its citizens would need such a large currency, the Department printed only a handful of these bills. In fact, by 2006 only two Grand Watermelons remained—making it one of the rarest currencies on the market. And you know what happens when something becomes rare, don’t you? People are willing to pay absurd amounts of money for them!
Do you want to know how much someone was willing to pay for one of these Grand Watermelons? $2,225,000! Or to put it another way, you would have to pay 2,225 Grand Watermelons just to purchase that one $1,000 bill in 2006.
Stories like that always fascinate me. I always find it amazing that something that was relatively insignificant at one time can now be so valuable. I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
And speaking of beholders, you know that you have a beholder, don’t you? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT) says,”… You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price….” And 1 Peter 1:18-19 says that that high price was the very life of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. You belong to Jesus—God is your beholder. And if that’s the case, then just exactly how does God view you? Let’s look at 1 Samuel 16 to see the Father’s answer to that question.
Certainly you have heard this story before. It’s the story of the prophet Samuel anointing a teenage David as the king of Israel. As you will recall, the Lord sent Samuel to David’s father Jesse in his hometown of Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:1) to anoint one of his sons as the next king of Israel.
After Samuel arrived in Bethlehem and explained the purpose of his visit, Jesse had his seven oldest sons displayed before the prophet just as a piece of clothing is displayed at a fashion show. Samuel was certainly impressed by the bunch as he exclaimed, “…Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD” (1 Samuel 16:6, NIV). But the King of Kings did not choose any of those seven sons to be Israel’s next king. So Samuel said to Jesse, “’The LORD has not chosen these…Are these all the sons you have?’ ‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesse answered. ‘He is tending the sheep’” (1 Samuel 16:10-11, NIV).
The youngest son who Jesse was flippantly referring to was David. The father wouldn’t even mention David’s name, he was just “the youngest”. His own family thought that he was so insignificant that it wouldn’t make a difference whether he was at this family meeting or not. After all, why would the Lord use or even care about the runt of the family?
But that’s exactly what God was about to do. So under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Samuel said to the family, “Send for [David]; we will not sit down until he arrives” (1 Samuel 16:11b, NIV).
1 Samuel 16:11b might be my favorite verse in the entire story. You see, David’s own family didn’t even invite him to this special ceremony, but God did not only invite David, choose David, and use David, He also had David walk into the room to a standing ovation by those who overlooked him. The Lord would not let any of them sit down until David arrived! David may have been trash to his family, but he was a treasure to God.
I want you to know today that God views you in the exact same way that He viewed David in 1 Samuel 16. Your family, friends, and the world may look down on you, but God sees a diamond in the rough. You may feel like you’re overlooked and undervalued, but God is celebrating you as we speak. The world may discard you, but God regards you. The world may accredit you no worth, but God thinks you’re worthy enough to send His only Son to die on a cross just to bring you back to Himself.
The US Department of the Treasury didn’t think the Grand Watermelon was worth continuing to produce, but someone thought it was worth $2,225,000. David’s family didn’t think he was worthy of an invitation, but God gave him a standing ovation. And you may feel like the world views you as trash, but take confidence knowing that God views you as His treasure!
“You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”
—Isaiah 62:3 (ESV)
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
