People from many nations call Antigua home. But they don’t all share the Antiguans’ love for salt fish and sous. When expats travel off-island, they purchase the food they crave. My Greek friend fills her suitcases with 20 liters of olive oil. The Syrians next door stock up on tahini. We stuff ours with nuts. At customs, suitcase lids are lifted and goods are taxed. The hassle and cost are worth it for things that are highly valued. Nobody would go through the bother for boxed mac and cheese.

Now lift the lid of your heart. It probably looks a lot like mine. Packed with good intentions as stale as cardboard, with words that glow an artificial color, with “godly” actions as flaccid as overcooked noodles. Who could value hearts like these? 

Christ does. Christ about whom angels sing:

“You are worthy . . . because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9,10).

Christ craves a relationship with sinners. He thought nothing of the hassle and cost but traveled to earth to purchase us with his blood. That precious blood transforms us from compost to kings. Believers from around the globe are his precious gifts to God. And when God looks inside our hearts, he doesn’t recoil in disgust. He sees Christ. He sees believers who delight to serve him—not just in heaven, but right now.