Can one put a price on another person’s life? We do it with animals. A Dog will cost anywhere from several hundred dollars, to several thousand. In the movies, we see it when a price is put on someone’s head and they are ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’. But human life is thought to be so sacred, that we cannot sell it. Slavery is considered an abomination and a dark stain on history. And we like to think that not since the Civil War in America, have people been sold into slavery. Sadly that’s not true. It is estimated that somewhere between 38 and 46 Million people are enslaved today.
Yet whatever dollar amount that could be put on a human life, that amount falls far short of the true value of a human soul. Perhaps the most accurate indication of human value is found in the price that our God was willing to pay, that as many who would believe could be ransomed unto eternity.
If Jesus paid the ransom of many souls, then it follows that our souls have a value to God far beyond anything we can comprehend.
From a shallow human perspective, using modern-day values, I can only suggest to you, that all the gold in all the banks in all the world, would not come close to matching the worth of a single soul. Many years ago, as I traveled to work each day, I watched a skyscraper in Melbourne slowly take shape. I remember reading, that it would require more than 200 men to work on-site for over a year and the building was expected to have a usable life of about 100 years or so. So the value of a building was measured in my mind as being the equivalent of maybe many thousands of human years, in both construction and shared use. Around the same time, the words of a very well known Hymn jumped out and gave this complete context. The Hymn was ‘Amazing Grace’. And the words that stood out were, “When we’ve been there Ten Thousand Years… We’ve no less days…” For me, this is the only definition of eternity I can imagine. That after 10,000 years in Eternity with Jesus, we will not be one day closer to its end.
That realization contrasted with the Skyscraper somehow defined to me the value of a human soul. Something this world places a billion-dollar price tag is nothing more than disposable junk when seen in the context of a person living for eternity.
Of course, the flip side is beyond contemplation also. One moment in Hell’s fires would be
too much. Could you imagine what a soul perishing must face? Surely this must motivate us to pray, to witness, and to live with integrity before others, for the sake of those we share this day with.
Thank you, Jesus.
Peter
