3-11-09

Luke 12:4-7 New King James Version


4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! 6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?[a] And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.


We do not need to fear man. Fear God because He has the power to cast anyone into hell. The Pharisees could kill the body but not the soul. So what more could man do? Only God can give us eternal life. Be careful how you are with God because you do not want to displease or disobey Him. We should always have respect for God. As we have been saying this year, we are responsible for the choices we make. He is a caring God and it is not His purpose to send us all to hell....that was never His purpose. His purpose for us was to worship, know and love Him. He has not forgotten us. That is awesome that He knows the very number of hairs on our heads. God truly values us and loves us.

Out of all the birds that were sold, sparrows were the cheapest. Not one of them was forgotten by God and we are even more valuable to Him. In Jesus' day, sparrows were sold four for two cents and they received one for free. Jesus is saying that even the free one is not forgotten by God. We are of more value than many sparrows. He gives us special care. So we should not only fear but trust Him because He is our Father and cares for each and every one of us. Every aspect of our lives are a concern to Him. Jesus spoke regarding God's power to punish but more so of His loving care. The One we are to fear also has a great love and wants an intimate relationship with us. Those sparrows had little value to man but God even cared about the free one. To know that He cares much, much more for us is awesome. He has the keys to heaven. Let us strive for our relationship with Him to grow and mature.