Luke 12:6-12 (Matthew 10:29-30)

“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

The passage reveals the insignificance (to men) of the value of sparrows. Jesus elevates the worth of sparrows here in Luke and Matthew by announcing they are not forgotten by Him. His pronouncement shines a light on the fact that God places higher value on living things than men do. We do not see as God sees. We do not assign value as God does. If the very hairs of my head are numbered, that means that God knows that number and that fact alone is extremely significant. If I wanted to know how many hairs fell from my head today, the Spirit of God could give me that information.

Besides pointing out His omniscience (a word that means “all-knowing” that I learned as a young Catholic girl), this passage of scripture points to His great interest in and love for every single one of us and how much He worth He places on His creation and human beings.

Let’s look at value

Word study on VALUE: Value means price, cost, worth; merit, usefulness, importance, significance. Regarding price and cost, God gave His only begotten Son for us, that we might come out of the darkness of sin and Satan’s lies and walk in God’s light, becoming a part of His kingdom. He let His Son be tortured and die a brutal death on the cross to save us from the works of the devil. That is what we are worth to Him!

Hagar’s predicament; Jeremiah’s purpose

I have found other stories in the Bible that convey this same message. At his wife’s urging (and impatience for a child), Abram had lain with his wife’s servant Hagar (Genesis 16). Hagar became pregnant and despised her mistress Sarai. Hagar later left Sarai’s employ. God came to her and asked here where she was going, then told her to return. He went on to give her promises about the future of her child and the nations that would come from him. She called Him “the God Who Sees.” God came to her in her lostness, giving her the remedy for her situation. He will do it for you too. He’s personal….He’s very personal.

God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah Chapter 1, saying,“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” The chapter goes on to spell out more specifics of what God had in mind for Jeremiah to do.

A daughter of Abraham is noticed; Zacchaeus

I also think of the woman who was bowed over in Luke 13:16. Jesus saw her and said “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?’ Jesus noticed her and made the case like a lawyer, that she deserved to be set free from her debilitating condition. That’s a God who notices you.

Another story: Zacchaeus in Luke 19 was a chief tax collector and very wealthy. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was a short man and could not see above the crowd, so he ran on ahead and climbed a tree to get a better view. As Jesus passed the tree, He noticed Zacchaeus and called him out saying, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Zacchaeus complied happily, but the backstory is that tax collectors were despised in Israel and shunned. There were many who complained about Jesus going to a sinner’s home. But Jesus noticed Zacchaeus’s curiosity about Him.

Personal stories

While babysitting my eight month old niece, I felt God speak a word to me about her that indicated a very personal knowledge and care about her father’s heart, and He had taken note of that. I cannot relate specifics at this point, but suffice it to say, it is personal to the family dynamic and added to my own understanding of God.

Recently, my husband gave his bicycle away to a person in need and was then in the market for another one. He had been looking around for about a week or so after he gave his bike away. He likes to get on a bike trail and ride for exercise. He had in his mind what he wanted in a bike with the accessories he wanted on it, but he was having trouble finding that particular bike. He was searching online and found one similar to what he wanted. It would arrive in a box and he would have to put it together and that was okay. The price was slashed almost in half of the full retail price, a $600 plus bike for $300 and a little bit. But he didn’t make the decision to purchase it.

On Friday morning during the holidays he decided to visit the bike shop where he had bought his previous bike, about an hour away from our home. He came home with a bike later that morning. It was  exactly what he wanted and already put together. Funny part is, the lady at the shop told him, “The guys just put this bike together this morning. It must have been meant to be..”

My take: I guess you could say that, but I’m more inclined to say that our God did a demonstration of His love for my dear husband. He took notice of his desire and proved He was looking out for him. I have seen this happen before. In another post on this blog, I tell the story of what my nine year old niece wanted for Christmas one year….a very specific, detailed item. Finding it would not be easy, but one day I set out to get her exactly what she wanted. Jesus took care of that too…it made me cry because finding the item so expediently proved that Jesus was paying attention to her desires. He noticed her, just like He noticed my husband’s desire for the right bike. He pays attention to the details, just like the number of hairs on your head, and just like He noticed Hagar’s predicament. 

Friends, these are not coincidences as the world might call them. This is God proving Himself and manifesting His wonderful character. God really does notice each and every one of us. Draw near to Him today for what your heart needs. He is waiting for you.