Consider the Preciousness of Jesus - Part 1

I am not sure when, but it was early in my pastoral ministry, that the preciousness of Christ became fixed in my mind and heart. Although I was a Southern Baptist pastor (and we were pretty sure that our way was the only way), a fellow pastor from Big Hill Avenue Christian Church became a best friend. The friendship deepened when his daughter, Joy, became a member of Rosedale Baptist Church, Richmond, Kentucky, where I was pastor. God’s ways are not ours and ours are not His. In His providence, Joy’s infant daughter was suddenly taken into eternity, what was then called a “crib death.” It was then that “precious” became my thought to comfort the family. When Pastor and I connected he began by saying “precious” and thanking me for applying that word to his family and their experience.
“Unto you therefore which believe, He is precious” (1 Peter 2:7). Later I learned that the celebrated Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a lad of sixteen, preached his first sermon from this text. Could he have chosen a text more spacious and limitless to a lover of Christ? I think not. Christ was precious to His Father. “I was daily His delight” (Proverbs 8:30). “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” was God’s affirmation when Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:17). Without a doubt Jesus was inexpressibly dear to His Father. “I’ve come to do Your will, O God.” Everything in His walk from Bethlehem to Calvary gave the Father infinite delight. CONSIDER THIS—THE PRECIOUSNESS OF CHRIST. Go back to the hour you first believed. Relive those moments. Examine yourself. Can you sing “He is so precious to me” or any other hymn or gospel song? Take time to sing to the Lord!