Because the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Jehovah (Psalm 50:10), what God finds of great value is quite different than the typical thinking of humans. Jesus recognized the profundity of this frequent difference when He told the Pharisees: “what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).
In the eyes of God, the following things are expressly stated as being precious:
- The death of the righteous. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15).
- Genuine faith. “the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes…” (1 Peter 1:7).
- The blood of Christ. “you were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ… (1 Peter 1:18-19).
- The work of Christ in building His church. “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious…it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious…’” (1 Peter 2:4, 6).
- A gentle/meek and quiet spirit. “let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:4).
Are these the things you value most, or is fool’s gold most precious to you?
