Precious

Does life ever seem to have a theme word for you? Mine does often, so I stop, tune into the Giver of all wisdom, and try to hear what He is trying to say to me.

"Precious" is my word right now. The calendar I have hanging in my bathroom has the scripture "How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand..." (Psalm 139:17-18) (NIV) The New Living Translation: "Precious are your thought about me." How precious is that? In all my shortcomings and frailities, God thinks I am precious. Wow!

So, I went to the dictionary: Precious - adj. - 1) Of high cost or worth; valuable 2) Highly esteemed; cherished 3) Dear; beloved 4) Affectedly dainty or overrefined as in precious mannerisms. Hold on: it gets better! As a noun, "precious" means "one who is dear or beloved; a darling. "Precious" can also be an adverb as in "intensive:" "I have precious little right to complain."

How about this scripture: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15 Our family has been in a season of loss. In the last eight years, we have said goodbye (temporarily) to one grandfather, one brother, two uncles, two aunts, one cousin, and one grandmother, as well as several friends. Heaven is more precious to us today than it has ever been. Maybe that's why the Holy Spirit keeps whispering precious, precious, precious to me.

Roy Lessin writes on my April calendar: "There is never a time when you are not in His thoughts, close to His side, and near to His heart. His presence in your life is not a small thing or a big thing --- it is everything."

Today is a precious day. It's the Lord's Day - God is on his throne - and it is well with my soul. Life is precious! I am precious. So are you.