attaching value to HIM…

we have been looking here on the front porch at the prayer that Jesus taught us how to pray.  we are going through the LORD’s prayer phrase by phrase.  we have looked at our Father, then in heaven and now we are going to spend some time with the phrase, hallowed be YOUr name. matthew 6.9 (niv)

now you may wonder why is GOD’s name such a big deal? 

well a name in the bible is never just a label for somebody.  a name is always a reflection of the person that it expresses.  it’s a reflection of their character and their identity.  and it says, hallowed, hallowed be your name.

we don’t use this word hallowed much in our day, but it means to attach appropriate value to something.  give it the honor that it’s due.  recognize its worth.

there was a story about attaching value.  i don’t know if this actually happened or not.  but a guy came into an antique store mostly filled with junk, and he was kind of an expert with antiques.

he noticed on the floor there was a cat drinking milk out of a saucer.  but the saucer he recognized was actually a vase from the ming dynasty in china that was worth a fortune.  it was full of milk with a cat drinking out of it.

he thought, “this is the opportunity of a lifetime to get a hold of that thing because the owner obviously doesn’t realize what he’s got here.”

so he went to the owner and he said, “that’s quite a remarkable cat you have. i’ll give you twenty five dollars for your cat.”  and the owner said, “well, the cat isn’t really worth anything, and we’re kind of attached to it.”  and the guy said, “i’ll give you a hundred dollars for it.”

the owner said, “all right.” and then the man said, “i’ll need something to feed him out of, so i’ll give you another ten bucks and i’ll take that saucer.”

the owner said, "oh, i could never do that.  that’s actually a vase from the ming dynasty in china that’s worth a fortune.  but it’s the strangest thing.  ever since i started putting milk in it, i’ve sold 17 cats.”

all of us, especially in financial terms, are used to attaching values to things.  and sometimes we’ll see something of great worth, but appropriate value hasn’t been attached to it. people don’t seem to recognize what it is worth.  and this is supremely true of GOD.  and it was a sad thing to JESUS and is to HIS followers still

just a thought from the front porch…