Caprice Classic

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

 (Matthew 13:44 NIV)

There is an old saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” That old adage is certainly true. What is valuable to me may not hold any worth to you at all.

My home is filled with items that I would never throw away or sell. However, my wife simply cannot understand why I keep some of those things around. In fact, many others would find no value in them either. However, they are things that I treasure.

Last week, I visited a church member who was in the hospital in Augusta. When I returned to my truck, I noticed the vehicle parked directly in front of me. This car was a late 1970’s model 4-door Caprice Classic. It was faded brown in color and had many rust spots. There were dents in the passenger door and the spoke rims were rusty and rough looking. The headliner in the interior was hanging down from the top. As if these things didn’t make the car look rough enough, the hood was ill-fitting and white in color, as if it was awaiting a coat of paint.

However, it was not the rough condition of the car that got my attention. In fact, I didn’t notice the condition until I saw the steering wheel. There, clamped onto the steering wheel of the car, was The Club.

Remember The Club? The Club is a device that is locked onto the steering wheel of a car to prevent it from being stolen. A thief may break into the car, but they will be unable to drive it with The Club attached to the steering wheel.

Of course, my first thought was, “Who would want to steal that car?” I sat in the seat of my truck for a moment and stared at the Caprice. Then I thought, “That car belongs to someone who values it a great deal. They value it so much; they wanted to protect it from others.”

I have met with numerous people who think because they are not great public speakers, can’t sing, or are quiet, they aren’t valuable. You may be one of those people. You may think you are of no value to anyone. You may truly believe that no one cares about you. I have great news for you. There is one who values you above all creation.

When the world looks at us, they may only see what I saw in that Caprice Classic. They may see the rust, the dings, the mismatched parts, and an interior that isn’t holding up. However, God sees His creation that He values more than anything else He made. He sees such value in you, that He became man and died on the cross for you. He rose from the dead to defeat sin and death so that you would be His forever.

Just as the person who drove the Caprice saw such value in his car that he wanted to protect it with The Club, Jesus wanted to protect you. When He called you to be His child, He set His seal upon you so that nothing could ever take you away from Him. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:28-29 KJV)

God created you and loves you more than you could know. He wants you to know today that you are valuable and loved by Him. Rejoice in the warmth of His love today!

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

(Matthew 6:26 NIV)

He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

(Matthew 12:11-12 NIV)