What Do You Consider Precious?

There are many people in our lives or material things that you may consider precious, for some it's their family (children/grandchildren etc.), spending time in nature with God, our prayer time, a rare gemstone, a newborn baby or even a beautiful heirloom. Would you consider God's promises to be precious? Perhaps you've never thought of God's promises this way before.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV tells us that "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape corruption in the world caused by evil desires." And verses 5-8 says: "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So, what are God's precious promises? Here's just a few...

1) He promises eternal life. Romans 6:23, 10:9; Deuteronomy 7:9

2) He promises to give us the Holy Spirit to guide us. John 14:26, 16:7, 13; Acts 1:8, 2:38

3) We are promised God's forgiveness when we repent. 1 John 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9

4) He loves us and works everything out for good. Romans 8:28

5) When we delight in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our hearts. Psalm 37:4

6) He promises to be with us, and to strengthen and help us. Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 40:29-31, 41:10, 43:2

7) He promises to fight for us. Exodus 14:13-14; James 4:7; Psalm 34:17, 138:7

8) He promises to give us rest. Exodus 33:14; Matthew 11:28-29

9) He promises to supply for our needs and give us peace. Philippians 4:6-9, 13, 19; John 14:27

10) He promises to heal the brokenhearted and the sick. James 5:15; Psalm 147:3; Jeremiah 30:17

To define precious it means an object, substance, or resource that is of great value; something that is not to be wasted or treated carelessly.

Time is one thing I personally consider to be precious especially after our son passed away. Because at that moment I realized our time together had been taken away. We should not waste time or treat it carelessly because once it's gone, we can never gain it back.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Yesterday a death of a loved one reminded our family of just how precious our time is here on earth. Death shows us why it's imperative that we prioritize what is most important and not to allow meaningless excuses to overshadow our precious time with family, friends, and those God is calling us to serve.

Ephesians 2:10 NIV "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

For those who may need this, I want to encourage you to choose grace and mercy over holding on to grudges and choose forgiveness over anger so that you can begin building stronger relationships.

1 Peter 2:9 NIV

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Last but not least, never forget that YOU are precious in God's sight as well. I pray you to find strength and comfort in His words.

Psalm 139:14 NIV

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Written by: Jill Theriault

Crossroads Coaching - @crossroadscoachingongodstime