May 7, 2005, Tony humphreys, Prestatyn, UK

The Price of everything, the Value of nothing

Image Caption: One Dollar

One Dollar

Submitted

Its that time again, we’re constantly reminded the cost of everything. From the NHS, to the petrol on our cars. Door knockers spouting on the how much money they will spend on our behalf, or how much they already have. The cost is obvious, the value, well, that can be a matter for another debate, but the one thing we are led to believe is that value increases with cost.

What caught my attention though, was a wander around Borders bookshop, looking for a Bible. As you know, they come in all sorts of different varieties: hard back, soft back, leather bound. And different translations: Good News, New International, King James, etc., but one thing struck me, there was the bibles for thirty pounds and over, but some there for just five pounds, and a search on the internet got this down to just ninety nine U.S. cents.

In another section I had a quick browse through the Haynes manuals. For fourteen ninety nine you can have a complete inside view of your car, and the detailed instruction to service, and repair it when it goes wrong, what value!

Cost and value. If a Haynes manual is so great, what about a Bible for, effectively, sixty pence.

For a mere sixty pence you get a detailed description of not only the makeup of your life, but the world around you. You get instruction on how to keep your lives in tip- top condition, and to live right with God, and you get the best ever trouble-shooter that will never fail. Ultimate value for a miniscule cost. All you have to do is buy it, but in order to get the full value you need to do what it says in John chapter3.verse 16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

There lies also the answer to the cost versus value consensus.

To us the cost is nothing, but God paid the ultimate price, the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, and all you have to do is believe and offer yourself to God, and carefully follow the instructions.