Tuesday

Related Verses
Matt. 10:37-38
37 He who loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me;
38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Jer. 15:19
19 Therefore thus says Jehovah, If you return, I will restore you; You will stand before Me; And if you bring out the precious from the worthless, You will be as My mouth; They will turn to you, But you will not turn to them.

Mark 9:7-8
7 And a cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud: This is My Son, the Beloved. Hear Him!
8 And suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone, but Jesus only with them.

2 Cor. 2:10
10 But whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for also what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for your sake in the person of Christ;

2 Cor. 4:7
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.

1 Pet. 1:8
8 Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory,

Related Reading
Matthew 10:37-38 [implies that]…a father, mother, wife, and children are the most precious things to a man. They are the most important things a man has in this life. When these are not compared with the Lord, there is nothing wrong in loving them. But when a situation arises where we have to choose between the two, which one will we choose?…Our own kin are precious, but they are no comparison to the Lord. Our Lord is more precious than any of our kin. (CWWN, vol. 60, p. 390) 

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Job 22:23-28 says, “If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up. / If you put injustice far away from your tents, / And place your gold nuggets in the dust / And your gold of Ophir in the stones of the brooks, / Then the Almighty will be your gold nuggets / And precious silver to you. / For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, / And you will lift up your countenance to God. / You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; / And you will repay your vows. / You will also decree something, and it will be established for you; / And light will shine on your ways.” Everything from verse 24 on is based on verse 23…A man places gold nuggets, the gold of Ophir, and precious silver in the dust and in the stones of the brooks for the sake of dealing with injustice and for the sake of delighting oneself in the Almighty. Here again we have a change in valuation. If we are tested at such a critical juncture, and we are asked to choose between gold nuggets, the gold of Ophir, the precious silver, and Jehovah, which one will we choose? Such a choice will separate those who are God’s from those who are not His. All those who belong to God will surely choose Jehovah as their delight. They will be able to lift up their countenance to God and will be blessed by God in three things. First, their prayers will be heard. Those who prefer gold nuggets, gold of Ophir, and precious silver will find that their prayers are not heard. Second, whatever they decree will be established for them because the Lord Jehovah will delight in their choice and decisions. Third, light will shine on their ways. Every step of their way will be filled with light. This is the result of a change in the concept of value with those who turn to God. Sooner or later we have to help a new believer get out of his old realm; we have to rescue him out of his own concepts. When a situation arises, we have to ask him, “What would you choose?” We have to help him to choose God’s justice and to reject the gold nuggets, the gold of Ophir, and the precious silver. The value of justice is more than any treasure. 

Philippians 3:7-8 says, “But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.” Here we see that Paul also had a change in his concept of value. What things were gains to him, these he counted as loss on account of Christ…[and] of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. 

Jeremiah 15:19…tell[s] us that if we bring out the precious from the worthless, we will be as God’s mouth. If we cannot tell the proper value of things, God will reject us and cast us aside…We have to see the importance of such a change in concept of value. May the Lord grant us the light to have a thorough change in our concept of value so that we will know to choose the most excellent portion. (CWWN, vol. 60, pp. 393-395) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “Christ in His Excellency,” chs. 1—2; Life-study of 1 Peter, msgs. 16—17, 22