“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow
to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person,
here is the scale of values to be used...”
Leviticus 27:2
Psalm 139 proves God values our lives, even before we are born. But His scale of values given at Mt. Sinai reveals even more about that value.
When a person was dedicated to the Lord, their value was paid in coins. The price scale indicates that value was based on the person’s ability to produce. Even though our society has differing opinions on those values, I discovered a principle in the scale that greatly encourages me.
The value of a woman over age sixty was the same as a young girl between ages five and twenty. As I recall, back then at that age, girls worked in the home or fields, they were given in marriage, and began bearing children. Consequently, even in my “older” years, I have the same value as a strong girl beginning her most productive years! It also strikes me that even after age sixty, their value did not keep dropping the older they got, and there was no age whose value was listed at zero!
So, no matter how old I get, I can still be productive and have worth. In 1948, when my parents stood in a little church in Bassett, Nebraska and dedicated me to the Lord, He marked me with value, and that value will remain until the day I die!
So, no matter your age, I pray that encourages you too!
