Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Value

            Amanda and I have been looking for a place to rent in Knoxville. It’s a time-consuming, sometimes overwhelming process. It’s so much easier to move when you’re single and don’t have little people about who to be concerned. Fortunately, my case is that I do have others involved in the process. I never really understood how much of a difference my thinking would become once married with children. I guess I used to rib my mates who were married. They always seemed so much more “concerned” with the logistics of things. Wives who were mommies, in particular, always seemed to let me know how much more they knew about “real life” than I did. I can see their point – to a degree – now.
            The housing market is crazy. One house on a street runs 200K and two doors down one runs 400K because in the winter – when there are no leaves – if you stand on the right corner of the property, you can see a small portion of the Tennessee River. Now, I don’t really know that as the reason for the price increase but it sure is fun to speculate on a house you find quite attractive and pleasing to the eye.
            My question throughout our day of house hunting on scene was this, “Who really determines the value of something?” Why can the retired little, old lady who owns five of the surrounding properties ask 1K/month for a house that, anywhere else, would only draw – at the max – half that amount! It’s funny. I just haven’t been out on the market in a while so it’s been an eye-opener in regards to seeing what the perceived and accepted value of property is these days.

            Consider the parable of the Hidden Treasure:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” – Matthew 13:44
           
And what about the parable of Choice Pearls:
“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” – Matthew 13:45-46

            It’s all about the value of something. What do I value in regards to where I want my family to live? What about the values Amanda has? Are they the same? Do we need to step back, reevaluate, and move forward again with tenacity? Maybe it’s simpler than even that because we want the best for our family – we want God’s will.

            “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” – Luke 12:34

            I started thinking about all this because of the Life Journal reading for today. *** In particular, I was reading from Genesis and hit a scripture that has really sparked my interest in the psyche of man, especially those of us who have engaged in combat. This scripture makes me wonder if this is the origin of the issues that warriors face with combat stress, post-traumatic stress, and PTSD.
:

“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.” - Genesis 9:5-6

            After reading this post, if you have any insight to offer especially concerning Genesis 9:5-6, I would love to engage in some dialogue.

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” - Philippians 3:8


***      (If you’re unfamiliar with Life Journals and would like a way to engage the Bible, check out www.lifejournal.cc. Check out www.lifejournal.com for an even deeper technological experience with your Life Journal).

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