Who of you would like a $100.00 bill??  This is a nice, brand new, crisp $100.00 bill!!  Please raise your hand!  Wow...looks like everyone would like it.  Well, what if I take it and crumple it up in my fist, wadding it into a tiny ball.  Who wants it now???  What...everyone still wants it!!  Well then, what if I take it outside and stomp it into the dirt and grime.  Wow, this thing is filthy.  Who still wants this $100.00 bill after all it’s been through??  Incredible, you all still want this horrible looking $100.00 bill!!  What’s up with that...why would anyone still want this thing?
 
Well, there is a lesson to be learned here.  You would still want the $100.00 bill because it did not decrease in value after being crumpled or stomped and ground into the dirt.  That thing is still just as valuable as a nice, brand new, crisp $100.00 bill!!  It may not look like the new one, but it will sure spend just like the new one. There was no decrease in value! 
 
Now for the moral of the story!  When we were born, we were of great value to God.  We were the most valuable part of His creation.  His love for us was beyond comprehension.  But then we grew up and we began to make decisions, sometimes good ones and sometimes bad ones.  We found ourselves in less than desirable circumstances and sometimes acted out in the wrong ways. We may have entered into relationships with people that ended with tears and broken hearts.  Some of these things may have led to us being crumpled beyond recognition.  We may have been ground into the dirt; perhaps even feeling that we had become dirt ourselves.  When we took stock of who we were we may have even called ourselves worthless; the scum of the earth.  And sadly, some of us even began to act like we felt and others around us began to devalue us as well.  Others, perhaps even family and friends, may have begun to shake their heads at us and look upon us as scum too.  Some of us may have acted on those feelings to the point of trashing our lives with alcohol or drugs.  We may have found other scum to be around so we didn’t look so bad.  And some may have gone so far down that they found themselves locked away in prison. 
 
When a human being has been so badly crumpled and ground into the dirt, what value are they anymore?  Having fallen so far, surely they are of absolutely no value!  But wait!!  Let’s go back to the story of the $100.00 bill!  In God’s eyes, every human being has great value.  It doesn’t matter how crumpled up they may get; it doesn’t matter how ground into the dirt they may become!  Amazingly, they are still just as valuable to God as when they were first born.  What is that value: Priceless!!  What about you?  Yes, you are priceless to God!
 
Consider the lives of many great men and women of God whose lives appeared to be heading for total disasters, but they were always of great value to God.  When they committed their lives to Christ, they not only were restored but they led such exemplary lives that they became recognized as role models for us all of what it means to truly be holy!  St. Moses of Ethiopia was a robber and a murderer, yet he became such an incredible man of God that he eventually became the abbot of a monastery.  On one occasion, a barking dog prevented Moses from carrying out a robbery, so he swore vengeance on the owner.  Weapons in his mouth, Moses swam the river toward the owner's hut.  The owner, again alerted, hid, and the frustrated Moses stole some of his sheep to slaughter.  Attempting to hide from local authorities, he took shelter with some monks in a colony in the desert near Alexandria.  The dedication of their lives, as well as their peace and contentment, influenced Moses deeply.  He soon gave up his old way of life, became a Christian, was baptized and joined their community.  When he was old, he founded his own monastery and had seventy-five disciples and lived in this life for seventy-five years. He foresaw his death and, one day, he told his disciples to flee for the barbarians were going to attack the monastery. When the disciples also urged him to flee with them, Moses said that he must die by violence for, at one time, he himself committed violence and, according to the words: "For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (St. Matthew 26:52). He remained there with six brethren and the barbarians came and slew them. One of the brethren, hidden in the vicinity, beheld and saw seven shining wreaths as they descended upon the seven martyrs.
 
Outwardly, that $100.00 bill will never look the same as when it was new, and neither will we!  But the value has not changed.  God created each of us with a soul that longs to be one with Him; to be a part of His Kingdom.  He will take us and clean us up; even press us.  Our circumstances may not change and there may be some scars, but how we view ourselves can certainly change.  We can be the “sons and daughters of God” that He created us to be!!  So there are still decisions before us.  May we all realize the truth of the $100.00 bill and know that we are still priceless to God...the very God who offers us the gift of life!! 
 
May that same God richly bless each one of you!!!