Worth Your Weight in Gold
by David Wright
Has anyone ever told you, “You are worth your weight in gold!”? I bet they have. It is a common endearing phrase that praises and thanks one for his/her efforts of kind and selfless service. Most often the generous act of kindness was a sacrifice by one serving another. It likely involves you sacrificing or at least sharing your time, your finances, or both. And the result is gratitude from the recipient along with blessings for the giver as well as the recipient of the help.
For some reason the phrase, “You are worth your weight in gold!” was on my mind recently and I considered its literal meaning. Currently an ounce of gold is worth $3,100 or $49,600 per pound. For a guy that weighs 200 pounds the literal gold value would be $9,920,000! To be told you are worth your weight in gold is indeed high praise! But let’s stay humble; I’m pretty sure my insured value is far below that amount.
As much as I hoped and imagined the Golden Rule to be the genesis of the phrase, “You are worth your weight in gold”, I find no evidence of that. However, we have several Bible verses quoting Jesus wherein the concept of the Golden Rule was stated by Him.
In Acts 20:35 Paul quotes Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This seems especially interesting to me when I consider His sacrifice. He gave all and those of us who follow Him receive eternal life with Him. In Matthew 7 we read “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Through His death burial and resurrection, Jesus did indeed do what he tells us to do every day; “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Our service to others, to the Church, and ultimately to Christ expands when we deny ourselves for their sake.
The weight of the world is on my shoulders!
Often when we draw alongside others who are in need, we don’t truly know the physical, mental, or spiritual anguish they are carrying. It is not unusual after people are helped through these difficult times to hear them share, “Thank you, I have felt as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders! Your generous time and sacrifice have lifted my load. With your help and prayers, I am going to make it!”
The one who truly had the weight of the world on his shoulders was Jesus. 1 Peter 5:6-7 indicates this as the apostle Peter, referring to himself as an elder statesman, wrote “Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
I am certain that any service or sacrifice I have made does not compare to the generous sacrifice our Lord Jesus made at Calvary. Yet it is His example that guides us all. Jesus knew His mission, He knew His destiny and He knew that it would be the most crucial thing He could ever do for those that choose to follow Him. He also knew it would be excruciating, a physical and spiritual pain like none other. He was taking on all of the sins of the world. John 3:36 states, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” Jesus did not have to! He willingly submitted to His Father’s will and became the ultimate sacrificial lamb; “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Worth the wait!
There are times when help is needed and the one in need refuses or is at least reluctant to seek help from others. Perhaps that can be said of you, or me. “I can do it myself!” “I don’t want to bother anyone with my problems.” Sometimes we may even avoid asking God for help. We might even say, “God has enough to take care of without dealing with me.” But he loves you and has instructed us to call upon him. Matthew 7:7-8 states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
God’s answer to our asking, seeking, and knocking may very well be a friend, family member, or even a stranger called to provide just what is needed at just the right time.
Perhaps the prayer is for someone or many others to give their lives to Jesus. Don’t stop praying, asking, and knocking. He is faithful and will answer. Just as Jesus stated, we seek God’s will not our own.
His answers are worth the wait.
He will lift the weight of the world from our shoulders.
And the new people reached will be worth their weight in something far more valuable than gold; eternal life with our Lord, our Savior.
