Her Worth is Greater than Jewels

On Sabbath eve, it is a tradition to sing the Eishet Chayil in praise of a virtuous wife: “Her worth is far above jewels.”

“That’s nice,” you may say to yourself, “but what does that have to do with me?” You may not be married nor Jewish.

This tradition, as well as the Sabbath itself, has a deep symbolic meaning for all who follow Jesus. The Sabbath is a picture of the Kingdom of God. It is the time each week we enter God’s rest. The beginning of the Sabbath is called the kabbalat shabbat, which means to receive the Sabbath. The Sabbath is welcomed as a bride. Similarly, the husband expresses his love for his bride. Before all his guests, he proclaims: “Her worth is far above jewels”.

The followers of Jesus are called His bride. His love for us is far beyond measure or description. We don’t deserve His praise, but He pours it out freely upon us. He sees us, not as we are now, but as we will be. Today, “we are His workmanship,” but when He returns, we will be transformed into His image. He loved us even when we were dead in our sins. Even now, though we are imperfect, His love never changes or gives up. We are in the very center of His love.

He tells us that our worth, our value, is “far above jewels.” How can we tell what something is worth? How can we measure its value? The value of something is the price a person is willing to pay for it. In fact, value is defined as the price a willing and knowledgeable buyer will pay and willing seller accept.

How does this apply to us? Jesus bought us out of slavery to sin. He paid the price to redeem us from death. What was the price He paid? His life. He gave up everything to purchase us. In other words, God gave himself totally for us so that we could be redeemed from a life of separation from Him. Even though we were sinners and deserved death, He willingly took our place in judgment, so we could be His.

You may not feel valuable. You may fail and falter. You may doubt His love. But the value He placed on you is “far above jewels.”

We don’t deserve this. The love He lavishes upon us makes us more keenly aware of our faults. Like Peter, we may cry out: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” But He waits patiently for us to abandon our protests and to surrender to His loving arms.

Stop trying to please God on your own. Surrender to His love. Allow Him to change you into to the bride that He knows we can be.

The Bible tells us that we are being changed as we behold His glory. (2 Corinthians 3 :18) Focus on His glory and accept His love for you. Let His unchanging love mold you and transform you into the bride He values so much.

Listen to Jesus as He declares to all: “her worth is far above jewels.”

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. " It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev 19:7-8 NASB)

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." . . . Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. ... And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; (Rev 21:2-5, 9-25 NASB)