What's it worth to you?

I was re-reading a recent blog and I was looking more closely at this photo I used.

Water Buffalo Skin

The photo was taken in the Lao market in Phon Phisai. Pictured is water buffalo skin cut in strips. What caught my attention was the price. One hundred twenty baht per kilo. That's about $2 per pound! And the strips of skin still have to be processed before they're edible (I use the term loosely). You've heard of steak that's as tough as leather--well this is just plain leather. Two dollars a pound for some very chewy "meat". Would you pay it?

I've eaten this once before. It was the most awful tasting thing I have ever eaten. I don't know if it is always like that, but the stuff I had tasted like it had been out in the sun a few weeks to long. Usually, if something tastes bad, I try to swallow it quickly to get it out of my mouth. That's not going to happen with this kind of food, because you have to chew it a long time before you could possibly swallow it.

As much as I don't understand it, people are obviously willing to shell out what is in my mind an exorbitant amount of money for these strips of hide. What would it be worth to you?

Sometimes people are willing to pay what seems a very unreasonable price for some things. Last summer I saw a sign posted offering $800 for the return of a lost dog. Eight hundred dollars! And it's smaller than a cat! With so many stray and unwanted dogs around, why does one pay so much for one? To me, that seems a very unreasonable price. (Sorry, dog fans, I just don't understand.)

Lost Dog Reward

Who sets the price for something? How does one determine what something is worth? What is a reasonable price to pay?

I'm thankful that Jesus was willing to pay what seems a very unreasonable price for something. He was willing to pay with His very life the price to give us not-so-good humans eternal life in heaven. The apostle Paul wrote:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. Romans 5:6-7 (NLT)

Did he get a good deal? Are we worth it? 

Would you do that? Would I do that? Would I be willing to give up my life so that my enemy might be able to receive a very nice reward that he does not deserve?

The example of Jesus tells us that no price is too high when it comes to giving people the opportunity to spend eternal life in heaven with God. But I can be stingy. Sometimes I don't want to sacrifice my comfort to reach out and offer people the love of Jesus. I'd rather pay someone else to go share the gospel in difficult places than go myself. It can be hard for me to give up watching a TV show in order to spend time praying so that the good news of Jesus might be brought to those so desperately in need of it. It's much nicer enjoying a meal in my home than going to share with someone scrounging for food out in the cold. All too often, these people just don't seem worth the expenditure of my time, energy, or money.

At the same time, I am grateful for those who sacrificed so that I might come to know about the tremendous love of God through Jesus Christ. Some people thought that this self-centered person living an ungodly, hedonistic lifestyle was worth it.

God, help me to place the same value on the lives of my fellow humans that you do.

Keeper of the books

Good Friday.

What's so good about it?

The other day I was looking up a word in my Thai-English dictionary and my eyes caught an adjacent entry that piqued my interest.  This began a chain of looking up words that help explain other words until I came across this one:

เจ้าพ่อเจตคุปต์

Which roughly translates: guardian spirit that keeps the thoughts

Transliterated it comes out something like Jao Paw Jettakoup

Jao Paw Jettakoup is one of five idols in the City Pillar Shrine in Bangkok.

Image credit:
http://2g.pantip.com/cafe/gallery/topic/G11881443/G11881443.html

The job of Jao Paw Jettakoup is to remember all of the bad deeds people have committed and to recite them to the god of hell after the person dies. (It's probably not a good idea to try to bribe him to edit the record.)

Many Buddhists here in Thailand believe in the existence of an account book called the Account of Good Deeds and Account of Sin (บัญชีบุญบัญชีบาป).  When a person dies, that account book is opened and the good deeds are weighed against the bad deeds to see what kind of punishment a person will get. They also believe that merit made on behalf of the dead person will be taken into account, which probably accounts for many of the merit-making activities in Buddhist funerals here.  (Note: not all Buddhists believe this, some believe one's fate is determined by an automatic cause-and-effect process that does not involve a deity as a judge.)

For most of us, the existence of such a record book would not be a good thing.  If the book was something tangible we might go through a lot of effort to seize and destroy the book--or at least edit it--but in the process earn a bunch of entries on the "bad deeds" side.

This is where Good Friday comes in.

By His death on the cross, Jesus is able to take away the sins of those who believe in Him.  This is why, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  It's as if  by submitting to crucifixion, Jesus earned the right to take an eraser to the Account of Sin.

That is Good News!  That is why it is called Good Friday.

The Cross - Good News for us

The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world.

David writes, "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12, ESV).  Jesus is able to take the one side of the ledger and heave it as far as the east is from the west.

Good News!  Good Friday.

When I think about this Buddhist concept of a Book of Deeds, I am reminded of Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4.  Love, he says, "keeps no record of being wronged".

Jesus tells us that "God is Love."


There is no reason to take an eraser to the Book of Deeds if you don't keep such an account in the first place.

This is what Love does.

This is what God does.

  Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
  God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:7-10, NLT)

Good News!  Good Friday.

So we compare:

Jao Paw Jettakoup-the one who ensures none of your bad deeds is forgotten.

Jesus Christ-the one who ensures none of your bad deeds is remembered.

Which will you choose?


Good News!  Good Friday.