As a boy, the bottom drawer of my chest of drawers was reserved, not for clothing, but for an eclectic collection of my most treasured possessions. There I kept things like special comic books, cool rocks, action figures, and other odd items important to a young boy.
The things we treasure reveal a lot about who we are and what’s important to us.
In Exodus chapter 19, God tells the Children of Israel that out of all the nations of the earth, they are His treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5) He doesn’t say “instead of the other nations,” because the other nations are His desired possessions also. (Exodus 19:5) But out of all the nations, Israel is his treasured possession.
God gives them this distinction because, like the things in my bottom drawer, the nation of Israel was to reveal who God was to everyone who saw them. They were to be priests revealing God to others. (Exodus 19:6)
What do these words, spoken thousands of years ago to a group of freed slaves in the dessert, have to do with us?
As followers of Christ, we too have been freed from our slavery. We’re still in the dessert, but God is bringing us to Himself and a place of rest. He declares that we are His treasured possession (1 Cor. 6:20) (Eph. 2:10) and his priests. (1 Pet. 2:9)
And we have this privileged position as treasured possessions for one purpose…to reveal what may be known about the One who set us free. (1 Pet. 2:9) We are a treasured possession who are to reveal our treasured possession…Christ.
When others look at your life and the things you treasure, what does it tell them?
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.