Better Than Diamonds

Someone asked me the other day if I had special plans for Valentine's Day this weekend. When I replied that I did not, she said, "Me neither. I don't need candy, and I don't need flowers, and I don't think anyone is going to be giving me diamonds!"

Although I like candy and flowers and would welcome any given to me, I already have something better than diamonds! "God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds." (Psalm 19:10 MSG)


♦ Better than diamonds because diamonds can be lost or stolen; they can chip or break; they can burn. Mary of Bethany, hanging on the words Jesus spoke, found something which He declared could not be taken from her. The Word of God, hidden in our hearts and practiced in our lives, is indestructible. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Matthew 24:35 NIV)

♦ Better than diamonds because most, if not all, diamonds are imperfect. "The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7 NLT) To be sure, our understanding of God's instructions is imperfect, but we can rely on the fact that there is unchanging, ultimate Truth and that one day we will see it as it really is. "Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless." (I Corinthians 13:9, 10 NLT)

♦ Better than diamonds because diamonds don't change lives. Countless thousands who believe the Word of God could testify to the difference that faith has made in them. It is not to mere improvement that they would bear witness, but radical life-change. The Word showed the way to freedom in Jesus Christ, brought hope and peace in their times of difficulty, and provided guidance when their way was uncertain.

♦ Better than diamonds because diamonds, contrary to the famous DeBeers ads, are not forever. Twelve precious stones are set into the twelve foundations of the heavenly city; a diamond is not mentioned. That does not mean it couldn't be there, for the identification of some of the stones is uncertain. Whatever the case, any heavenly diamonds are not going to be the same ones that are set in tokens of our earthly loves—rings and bracelets and tiaras. All of these, as precious as they are to us, are worthless baubles when compared to the eternal beauty of the Living Word, ''who being the brightness of [God's] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3 NKJV)

God's Word is better than a diamond! I'm pretty happy even if there's no candy or flowers!

MaryMartha

Scripture marked MSG is taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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