Why The Cost Makes All The Difference Series

What Difference Does Easter Make? Easter/Lenten Series 2007.

Sunday March 25th

“Why The Cost Makes All The Difference”

Do you have anything in your possession you wouldn’t give up, trade, or give away?

Take a moment to write down an answer or two.

If you were to arrive home and find it on fire, and if you were permitted, what would you run in after to save? Would it be your wedding photo album? Or your pair of cowboy boots? A favorite guitar? A box of photo CDs? Would it be something gold, or silver, or some piece of jewelry?

After kids and since we don’t have a pet, the things I’d want to rescue would by a family tree box filled with CDs of old family photos—somewhat irreplaceable? A wedding album, a picture here or there off the wall…I think most other things to me would be replaceable.

There aren’t any right or wrong answers here…so take a moment to write down a thing or two. What would they be? What items are close to your heart that’d you want to try and save?

Now take a look at your answer(s). Would you say those things are precious to you?

Certain things have meaning to us because they cost more. Some things have more meaning to us because they cannot be replaced! Their replacement value would be a great cost to us.

Just let someone play with or mess around with or use it as common thing and see how the level of your concern for that item may rise.

My mother had some precious family heirloom China she would only use when we had company over for Easter or Christmas dinner. The tableware was precious to her and I can still feel something inside when I use my imagination to see her getting those plates down from the cupboard.

You take extra precautions when handling precious things. When we brought each of our children home from the hospital, we held them close to us—you hold things close to you when they are precious, when they could be easily broken or endangered. You handle precious things differently than you do with common everyday things, don’t you.

The NT writers state that several things are precious.

The promises of God are precious, The believer’s faith is precious, The Son of God is precious to God and to believers, A gentle and quiet spirit of a woman is precious to God, The symbolic stones or gems heaven is made of are precious. All of these things are in the same league of being precious because of their value and irreplaceable nature!

If the price you pay for, say a necklace, is higher than any other necklace, could that make it more precious to you? It could. If the price paid for an object is precious to God, would that make the object being paid for precious too?

Little JOHNNY had spent hours building a small sail boat, crafting it down to the finest detail. He carried his new boat to the edge of the river and then carefully placed it in the water. How smoothly the boat sailed! Little Johnny sat in the warm sunshine, admiring the little boat that he had built. Suddenly a strong current caught the boat and moved it far from his reach downstream.

Little Johnny ran along the riverbank as fast as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon he searched for the boat. Finally, when it was too dark to look any longer, little Johnny sadly went home. He knew it’d take quite awhile to build himself another boat. But what he didn’t know was that downstream a man found his boat and took it to town where he sold it to a shopkeeper.

A few days later, on his way home from school, little Johnny spotted a boat just like his in the store window. When he got closer, he could see -- sure enough -- it was his!

Little Johnny hurried to the store manager: "Sir, that’s my boat in your window! I made it!"

"Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in. If you want it, you’ll have to buy it."

Little Johnny ran home and counted all his money and had exactly enough! When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. "Here’s the money for my boat." As he left the store, little Johnny hugged his boat and said, "Now you’re twice mine. First, I made you and now I bought you."

What makes the difference about Easter is the COST that was involved to make that first Easter happen! There is one more thing the Bible states is precious and that’s in 1 Peter 1:18-19: For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.