Today's Verse: 1 Peter 1:18-19

If value is determined by price, we are incredibly valuable to God. Our Father took the most precious treasure of heaven and redeemed us out of sin, evil, and death to adopt us into his family through Jesus' sacrifice. Silver and gold pale in comparison to that value. Without this redemption, we were in a mess. We were trapped in "the empty way of life handed down to us". To know the depth of that empty way of life, we need to remember who we were before Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 5:6):

• Dead in our transgressions and sins.
• Following the ways of the evil ruler of the spiritual realm, who is at work among the disobedient.
• Gratifying the cravings of our flesh.
• By nature deserving of God's wrath.
• Powerless and ungodly sinners living as enemies of God.

But God chose to redeem us in love through "the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." Now that we are redeemed, Christ presents us to God as "holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Colossians 1:22). We are redeemed, bought out of our slavery to the emptiness of the sinful life the world chooses. So, dear brothers and sisters, let's live as who God has made us to be: valuable and precious to our Father!