Daily Devotional

I proposed to my wife Megan when I was 20 and she was 18. Our proposal story involves a rainstorm, a Turkish sandwich, and an 800-year-old castle in Germany. But that’s not the story I want to share today. Before the proposal could even happen, I had to of course get a ring.

I had about 5 months between the time I decided I was going to propose to Megan and when the actual proposal would happen. In the meantime, I got three jobs and saved every penny I earned (one job was at a pizza place where sometimes the only tip I received was literally the pennies left over after a bill was paid). After working and saving for several months, it was finally time to go pick out the ring. Upon arriving at the jewelry store it only took a few moments for me to find the perfect ring. There was no doubt in my mind, this was the one. Well, let me clarify, there WAS no doubt…until I saw the price tag. While I liked the ring I first picked, I wanted to continue browsing just to be sure a didn’t miss a better (and perhaps less costly) ring.

Suddenly I struck upon a section of jewelry that was much, MUCH less expensive. I even found a ring that looked very similar to the one I first picked but for a fraction of the cost. I asked the attendant why there was such a huge price difference and was told it was because the cheaper ring didn’t have a diamond but a “diamond simulant.” I think by the blank look on my face she could tell I wasn’t understanding, so she clarified “that first section you looked at had real diamonds, these are synthetic ones.”
 
The expensive rings had diamonds, and the less expensive rings had fake diamonds. I could not tell the difference by looking at them and I’m not sure anyone else could. Maybe a professional jeweler with one of those cool one-eye microscope things could probably spot the difference, but what are the odds of someone having one of those? After a few moments of consideration, I made my choice and left the jewelry store that day with a ring…with a real diamond.

To clarify, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with synthetic diamonds and to be honest, if I couldn’t have afforded the real diamond, I would have gotten the synthetic one and I don’t think Megan would have genuinely cared. The point I want to make is one of value; why was the real diamond considered more valuable than the synthetic one? It has to do with rarity. I have no idea what goes into making a synthetic diamond, but I know it’s easier than the work that goes into finding a real one. Yes, they essentially look identical, but one is the real thing, and one isn’t. One is genuine and one only appears to be genuine. One is rare and the other is more common.

Here's where I’m going with this, as followers of Jesus we are commanded to love. That seems pretty basic, even those who don’t follow Jesus have love for others. You could say that love is quite common. Our love is to be different though, the type of love we are to have is far more rare. We are called to love the obvious people like family and friends but also called to love the less convenient individuals like our neighbors, strangers, and even our enemies. When we have a love like that it will stand out.
 
It’s often said Christians are “under the microscope” and I think there’s a lot of truth there. When someone hears us claim to be followers of Jesus, they start to examine us more closely. From the surface, our love looks a lot like the love of the world, but under closer scrutiny, others should see that we have the genuine thing. True, godly love is indeed a rare thing in this world but that just makes it all the more valuable.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.