Timely Valuation (By Dag Heward-Mills)
“Mothers and fathers are also not valued until they are dead. Once, when I was returning home on a flight after a tour of some Lighthouse churches, I saw a man with a giant wreath. It was the most beautiful set of flowers I had ever seen.
It was so big that he had to put it on one the seats and buckle it with a seat belt.
I wondered if he could not have bought these flowers for the person when he or she was alive. I also wondered if as much money as was used in buying the wreath was ever sent to the deceased while he was alive.
We must place value on things whilst they are with us. Or we will live to regret it.
The principle of valuation teaches us to value what we have, so that we treat it with care, and benefit from it while we can.
In Luke 7:36, we read the account of a Pharisee who asked Jesus to dinner.
In the course of the meal, a woman in the city showed up with an alabaster bottle of ointment and poured it on His feet.
Then she began to wash His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, kissing and anointing them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who invited Jesus saw that He did not stop the woman, he began to question Jesus’ credibility as a prophet.
To him, Jesus could not discern that the woman was a sinner.
Jesus discerned the heart of the Pharisee and gave a parable to explain that the woman had shown greater appreciation to Him for forgiving her of her numerous sins.
...I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
-Luke 7:44,45
This was a woman who felt Jesus was so important that while Jesus was alive, she anointed His feet with the most expensive perfume and wiped it with her hair.
It is interesting to note that when Jesus died, the women who had walked with Him came with prepared spices and ointment to anoint Him.
By then it was too late! They rather met two people dressed in white like angels, who told them that He had risen from the grave.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices... And they found the stone rolled away... they were much perplexed...
-Luke 24:1,2,4
You will also be perplexed when you realize too late that something valuable has been taken away from you.
The opportunity is gone forever!
These women came with all their valuable ointments to anoint the Master. But it was too late.
When Jesus was with them, they probably did not realise His value.
So many people don’t realize the importance of something until it is gone.
All over the world, people are hailed after their death.
Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah was insulted, ridiculed and exiled when he was alive. Many years after his death, some political parties are now struggling to identify with him, calling themselves ‘Nkrumahists’.
Many great people are recognized and valued after they are gone.
When my father died I wept like a baby. Suddenly, I realized his value in a way I had never known when he was alive!
When you lose something forever, you will suddenly see its value.
During the funeral of Ron Brown, (the American Secretary of Commerce, who died in a plane crash) his son read his tribute which was carried live by CNN. He said something which struck me as underlining the principle of timely valuation.
I think he said something to this effect: I have no feelings of regret. I have said all that I could have said to him. There is nothing that I could have said which I didn’t say. I have had the best of relationships with my father. On the day that he travelled I kissed him goodbye on his lips.
This was a son who probably had little to regret after he lost his father. In showing appreciation to his father, little did he know that this would be the last time.
We need to value things before we lose them.
Many are those who kneel at their fathers’ or mothers’ graves and weep. They grieve not only because the person is dead, but also because they didn’t show appreciation to the person when he or she was alive.
I urge you to look into your life and see whether there is anybody you should have valued but you didn’t. Hopefully, it is not too late to make amends— locate all such people and find a suitable way of expressing appreciation to them.
God is saying to His people that there are many things He has given us which often go waste. If you keep on wasting them, He will take them away from you.
So if God gives you a pastor and you don’t value him, with time, He will take him away from you. If God gives you a mother and you are not grateful for her, He will take her away.
If God gives you money and resources to be a blessing to the house of God, and you fail to do so, He will take away this opportunity and give it to someone else who will properly utilize it.”
Dag Heward-Mills | Frugality