In The Eyes Of An Expert...

   One of my favorite television shows (there are only a few!) is "American Pickers."  For those who may not know this show it is not about playing guitars or odd photographs of those protesting some unfair treatment.  "AP" is about Mike and Frank who travel all over the country going from one junkyard to another looking for rare and unusual items.  Some of the things they find are incredible, but most of all the people they meet are delightfully unique.
   This morning they uncovered an Ape, which was a Japanese motorcycle manufactured in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  You would have thought that Mike had found a 10-carat diamond!  He was so excited!  He bargained with the owner for a better price and finally paid $5,000 for the rusty, worn out piece of metal with three wheels.  Seeing what horrible shape it was in seemed like a waste of money until he discovered from an "expert" that it could be sold for $10,000 "as is."
   As I finished my cup of hot tea, my mind went to the number of things in life that are thought to be of little value until they are observed by an "expert."
   For example, there are those who look at some jobs as being meaningless and below the standards of acceptability.  You know, jobs where you have to work with your hands and from which one gets their clothes soiled.  The kind of job that only pays a little more than minimum wage without any type of benefits.  They seem so useless and worthless unless observed by an "expert," which in this case is someone providing the best he or she can for the family.  The job that makes putting food on the table, clothes on the children,  and heat from the furnace priorities. 
    What about the value of an education?  One spends sixteen years of life in a classroom learning to write an intelligent sentence or discovering how to balance a checkbook, but for what?  For a lifetime of discovery!  Being able to read about those people, places and events of the past so an appreciation can be gained for where we are today.  Discovering cures for maladies that have hampered humankind for decades.  To be able to unleash the power that God instilled in the mind to bring peace to a troubled world.  Yes, in the hands of the "expert" an education is the key that unlocks a beautiful future!
   Then there is that book that has been around for thousands of years and is used to swear in presidents, make weddings more spiritual, and keep small children entertained in Sunday School. Yes, the Bible is seen as pretty much worthless to many people, but to the eyes of the "expert," it is the answer to difficult questions concerning relationships.  The Word is the source of lasting peace that can come only through an understanding of its great truths.  The "expert" sees it as the revelation of God's will for his creation, therefore, making it possible to glorify the divine.  But, most of all, it is considered valuable because it serves as a road map on a journey through life that ends at the gates of God's heavenly city!  It may look worthless to some, but to the "expert" [in this case, the believer] it is eternally precious!
   Let me encourage you today to me a little more discerning when looking at those things that seem to some to be worthless, useless and empty because their value will only be known by an "expert!"