Our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures today is precious to me. What an encouraging promise we hear through the prophet Isaiah! It first touched my heart when I heard the Fisherfolk sing it at an evangelism workshop in Virginia years ago. They were so full of the Spirit as they sang, one couldn’t help but be moved by their joy and by hearing the words of scripture sung in such a new, invigorating way. Some years later, when I was experiencing a rough patch dealing with rejection, I turned to my journal to pour out my heart. Day by day, for six months or more, as I put pen to paper, I’d hear, “You are precious, and I love you.” What a comforting phrase to my aching heart, encouraging me to let go of my pain and move on with my life. Then just a couple of years ago, when I called one of my granddaughters “Precious,” she turned to me and said, “You sure use “precious” a lot.” That got my attention, and as I reflected on her comment, I realized that I do, no doubt, because I now recognize the healing grace that comes from knowing one is beloved by God, precious in God’s sight—as indeed we all are—each and all. What a blessing it is to know that, as Isaiah proclaims, God says, “You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you . . . everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

As we hear in our gospel passage today, that preciousness was made clear to Jesus at his baptism, should he have been unaware of it before, when he heard the voice from heaven proclaiming, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Two of his parables related to us in the gospel of Matthew (Mt.13:44, and 45-46) seem to speak to Jesus’ awareness of the preciousness of our relationship with God. He suggests that when we come to recognize the value of the presence of God in our lives, we will be willing to surrender all that separates us from that perfect love, to “sell all that [one] has” to obtain that precious treasure, the pearl of great price. God, who is always more ready to give than we to receive, stands at the door and knocks (Rev.3:20), awaiting receptive hearts, open for the treasure prepared for us.