When we speak of something as being “precious” we usually mean that it is very dear to our heart, and thus, greatly loved or treasured. It is something that has great value to us…something which we are careful not to waste, ignore or treat carelessly.
“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious…”
- 1 Peter 2:7
For each of us, the Christmas season is a good time to pause and ask:Is Christ precious to me? How do I know? What evidence do I have that He istruly precious to my heart? Do I ever regard or treat Him as less than precious?In the book entitled The Precious Things of God, Octavius Winslow provides many wonderful meditations on the preciousness of Christ. I would like to share a few of his thoughts with you over the month of December. It is my hope that these meditations will result in a more passionate love for Christ, in an increased joy as we celebrate His birth, and in a greater anticipation of His next advent!
Meditation #1 on the preciousness of Christ:
But to whom is Christ precious? This is a most important question. He is not so to all. It is a privileged class, a peculiar people, a little flock,few and scattered, hidden and unknown, who feel the Saviour’s preciousness. Only to the believer is Christ precious…
-Octavius Winslow
Meditation #2 on the preciousness of Christ:
How precious, then, is our Lord Jesus as ‘bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.’ Think of His perfect humanity–
a humanity free from sin, and therefore capable of dying for the ungodly,–
a humanity laden with sorrow, and therefore capable of sympathizing with the afflicted.
Precious to our hearts as God–precious as Man–
precious as both united in one–
inconceivably and eternally precious is He,
whose name is ‘Wonderful,’ to His believing saints.
-Octavius Winslow
May your heart be moved by gratitude and love as you ponder meditation #3 on the preciousness of Christ:
“In the hour of adversity, of trial, of sorrow, oh, how precious is Christ in the experience of the believer!
It would seem, beloved, as though we had never really known Him until then. Certainly, we never knew from experience that there was so much that was human, tender, and compassionate in His heart until sorrow touched our own…
Precious humanity! that bears each burden, that is touched with each infirmity, that soothes each sorrow, and that succors each temptation of His people.”
-Octavius Winslow
Meditation #4 on the preciousness of Christ:
“Who, then, is the Lord Jesus Christ? In common parlance, men term Him, ‘our Saviour.’ But do the great body pause and reflect who Christ really is? Do they regard Him and the CREATOR of this world–of all worlds? of their being–of all beings? Do they consider that ‘all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made?’…
But what a grand and glorious truth is this to the believing soul–the absolute deity of the Saviour–the essential Godhead of Christ!
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Precious in His Deity–
Precious as ‘God over all, blessed for evermore.’
-Octavius Winslow