[a people belonging to God]

Last weekend, my high school youth had their annual lock-in - always a fun tradition. As we ate breakfast Saturday morning, we had a quick devotion, and I opened the discussion by asking if they had a favorite stuffed animal as a kid.

Their responses were fun, and we laughed remembering our childhood. There were dog stories and a bear with one burned-off paw. There was Pooh Bear. Even our pastor participated. And I laughed as well remembering my own treasured mouse. His name was original - Mousey - and he went absolutely everywhere with me:

Eventually, he was so loved and played with that he lost the squeak in his ear, his bow tie, his hat and a lot of his fur. When he started losing his head, I tried to push the stuffing back inside and sew his head back onto his left shoulder again. Twice. 

I'll spare you a picture of that beloved mouse now (yes I still have him safe in a drawer). But if you saw him today, you probably wouldn't want to hug and kiss him like I used to. You'd see his worn out fur, his half-decapitated head, his tail hanging on by threads, his used-to-be-white checks turned gray. You'd see a ragged animal, a "used-to-be". 

How many of our lives look like him though? Maybe not from the outside. We have social media and fashion and money and success to project our image and convince the world that things are just fine. But inside, I bet very few of us can keep that game up. We, too, are sometimes hanging on by threads, worn out, ragged, struggling to see beauty when it's easier to see "used-to-be". 

But you know what's true about my mouse? The outsider who has no connection, no memory, no childhood relationship with him sees him only by the outside. But me? I have memories and stories and still love him dearly. I'm not afraid to admit it at 27 years old. He is still a treasure to me. 

And that, my friends, is beautiful because it's exactly how God sees you and me. 

God knows about our inner rags and worn-out selves, but He doesn't define us by them. He knows we may not look like anything special to the outsider, but He doesn't see us that way. He sees us as a treasure. As someone He created in His image. As a person He loves desperately, regardless of our actions, mishaps and mistakes. As someone with much greater potential and beauty than how we appear to the world.

That truth hit me harder a few days later.

I was typing up my moms recipes, and there it was again. My mom has several cookbooks that are well-used and dearly loved from the many years of feeding a family of seven.  And there are marks next to her favorites, ingredient stains, torn pages and sometimes smudged directions that are difficult to read because of the years of use. For her Christmas present, I asked if I could type her favorites into a read-able cookbook for her so she'd have them all together and clean. She agreed and handed me a stack that has kept me busy for hours.

Today as I was typing, though, I came to an extended family favorite - Gabby's Vitamins. Gabby is my Grandpa Fletcher. He passed away when I was 9, and I'm so glad I was old enough to remember him. He loved the Cubs, his family and telling us we looked "sharp" on Sundays. He also loved these cookies, and re-named them his vitamins. Never mind that they were full of chocolate, peanut butter, sugar and margarine. You know, the healthy stuff:

I noticed my aunt's name next to the recipe and took a picture to send to her. Then, as I was typing out my caption for the photo, it hit me. The recipe book is just like my treasured mouse.

From the outside, it looks filthy, a good starter for a bonfire. But those recipe books? They were my mom's lifeline raising kids and a husband who can eat the whole fridge, by himself, every meal. There are memories and stories that come up as you page through the recipes. They are dearly loved, a treasure. 

What do my mouse, my mom's cookbook and you and I have in common?

We are valuable not because of how we appear from the outside but because we mean something to our owner. 

Filthy to the stranger, maybe. But not to the one who calls it, us, "mine".

Our God is not a distant God, not a God uninterested in our daily lives. He is not a God we must manipulate by doing good things, giving enough money to or saying a certain number of prayers. He is not a God who must be worshiped but never loved, feared but never confided in. He is not a God who needs food, sleep or protection. 

He's a God of love. A God of relationship. A God of great patience and mercy and grace. A God who is up 24/7 to hear our prayers, come alongside us in life and remind us of His promises. A God who does not abandon us to figure out life on our own but made a way for us to be with Him. Forever. A God who sees us as a treasure, when the world might discard us as "used to be's".

That matter was forever settled by Jesus. If you doubt you are worth it, just look to the cross. God sees past your rags, my friends. God knows you and loves you for who you are. No need to try and convince Him otherwise. He made you to be precious. Simply because you are His. 

"For you are a chosen people, 

a royal priesthood, 

a holy nation, 

a people belonging to God, 

that you might declare the praises of him 

who called you out of darkness 

into his wonderful light."  1 Peter 2:9