OCTOBER 2018

​                My family and I had gone to Krispy Kreme donuts the other morning.  We didn’t eat them there, we just got them and were bringing them home to eat.  Madison was holding them on her lap in the back seat as we drove on Richmond Road.  As I approached the turn to go left, I waited for cars to go by and for a good gap between cars to occur before I pulled out in front of oncoming traffic.  As I turned, I told Michelle if I had been by myself, I would have gone earlier (there were smaller gaps between the cars where I could have made the turn).  To which Michelle said, “Yeah, but you have precious merchandise to take care of.”  Madison heard Michelle and said something along the lines of “I’m holding the precious merchandise.”  I’m pretty sure Michelle was talking about her and the girls as precious merchandise, but Madison was thinking about the donuts.  It made Michelle and I laugh. 
                Michelle’s and Madison’s statements made me think about things that are precious.  Things that we consider of value.  Things that we think are rare.  The dictionary would add things that are not to be wasted or treated carelessly.  In the scriptures we find that the law is precious, life blood is precious, Jesus’ blood is precious, the deaths of the saints are precious to God, even Jesus is referred to as the precious cornerstone.  I want to point out one other place that talks about what is precious.  2 Peter 1:3-4 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
                The promises of God are precious.  Do we know them?  Those truths of God that we can count on.  Those proclamations from the most High that will not fail.  The declarations from our Savior that we can hold onto when the storms are raging, when life is fading, when the pain seems unbearable, or the night and darkness seem to go on and on.
                Peter would call The Lord’s promises not only precious, but also great.  Great as in terms of large or powerful.   Do we know them?  Promises speak to us about God’s faithfulness.  They speak to us about the Lord’s nature and desire.   They speak to us about our savior’s heart and what is to come. 
                Do you know them?  Do you believe them?  Do you trust them?  And are they precious to you?  Do you treasure them as something of value, something that we hold onto because we know it will make all the difference?
                Donuts are a precious thing, as Madison had in mind.  My family is a precious thing, as Michelle had in mind.  But even more precious are the promises of God.  These promises that allow us to walk where we wouldn’t normally walk.  Wait when we wouldn’t normally wait.  Give when it doesn’t always make logical sense.  Hope when it seems like there is no reason to hope.  Praise God for His great and precious promises.