Devotions

I stepped onto the plane in Quito, Ecuador, with a dozen roses ~ long-stemmed, colorful, fresh and fragrant. Being a life-long rose lover, I couldn’t resist leaving Quito, the “Rose Capital of the World” without a rose. So I got 12. Cost less than one U.S. dollar: 96 cents a dozen..

Most of the flight back to America, I found myself gazing at, sniffing and stroking the flowers, drinking in their beauty ~ and asking the Lord to show me 12 people who need a rose.

My first morning stateside, as I was checking out of my hotel, He nudged me. Glancing at the desk clerk, I noticed she looked sad, weary, disheartened. So I ran out to my rental car, picked the best rose of the 12, and handed it to her with a big smile. You’d have thought I’d given her an all-expense-paid trip to Paradise Island. Happy tears flowed as she put the gift into a vase, thanking me profusely.

I loved brightening her day. But I felt guilty. It was only an 8-cent rose, after all.

A few days later, at the airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, I happened upon a vending machine: “ROSES FROM ECUADOR.” Just put in a $20 dollar bill, and down drops … ONE rose.

I thought back to the hotel clerk: Would I have felt better having given a rose I’d spent 20 dollars on, than one I’d bought for a mere 8 cents? Would she have been any more enamored with the more expensive one? It was no different – looked identical, smelled identical, probably came from the same litter in Quito!

The only difference was in the price tag, not in the value.

Dear sister, you may have days when you have felt like that 8-cent rose. Maybe much of your life has been spent looking at the “$20 roses” around you – folks in your home, workplace, church, school, TV, magazines – feeling you just don’t measure up, you’re of little value. You may have people in your life, as I did, who have told you, in word or deed, how worthless you are. And, as I did, you believed them. Well, DON’T believe it for one second!

God, who created you, says we are valuable. Infinitely more valuable than a 20-dollar rose. His Son Jesus paid the price for you and me, at Calvary. Our salvation cost us nothing, but it cost Him—our Rose of Sharon—everything. That should bring a grateful tear to our eyes. Have you thanked Him today?
Copyright 2007

The Rose:

Value versus Cost



	The Rose: Value versus Cost I stepped onto the plane in Quito, Ecuador, with a dozen roses ~ long-stemmed, colorful, fresh and fragrant. Being a life-long rose lover, I couldn’t resist leaving Quito, the “Rose Capital of the World” without a rose. So I got 12. Cost less than one U.S. dollar: 96 cents a dozen.. Most of the flight back to America, I found myself gazing at, sniffing and stroking the flowers, drinking in their beauty ~ and asking the Lord to show me 12 people who need a rose. My first morning stateside, as I was checking out of my hotel, He nudged me. Glancing at the desk clerk, I noticed she looked sad, weary, disheartened. So I ran out to my rental car, picked the best rose of the 12, and handed it to her with a big smile. You’d have thought I’d given her an all-expense-paid trip to Paradise Island. Happy tears flowed as she put the gift into a vase, thanking me profusely. I loved brightening her day. But I felt guilty. It was only an 8-cent rose, after all. A few days later, at the airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, I happened upon a vending machine: “ROSES FROM ECUADOR.” Just put in a $20 dollar bill, and down drops … ONE rose. I thought back to the hotel clerk: Would I have felt better having given a rose I’d spent 20 dollars on, than one I’d bought for a mere 8 cents? Would she have been any more enamored with the more expensive one? It was no different – looked identical, smelled identical, probably came from the same litter in Quito! The only difference was in the price tag, not in the value. Dear sister, you may have days when you have felt like that 8-cent rose. Maybe much of your life has been spent looking at the “$20 roses” around you – folks in your home, workplace, church, school, TV, magazines – feeling you just don’t measure up, you’re of little value. You may have people in your life, as I did, who have told you, in word or deed, how worthless you are. And, as I did, you believed them. Well, DON’T believe it for one second! God, who created you, says we are valuable. Infinitely more valuable than a 20-dollar rose. His Son Jesus paid the price for you and me, at Calvary. Our salvation cost us nothing, but it cost Him—our Rose of Sharon—everything. That should bring a grateful tear to our eyes. Have you thanked Him today? Copyright 2007