My daughter and son-in-law are fans of the television show “Sherlock.” As is well known, Sherlock is a very intelligent sleuth, who is able to solve crimes and other mysteries through his intellect. His best friend is a man by the name of Dr. John Watson. Living in England, together they solve the most complicated crime cases in that country. Just like the famous books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this is what the TV series is about.
My daughter told me about an interesting part of the show. This last season began with an unusual twist. John Watson’s beloved wife, Mary, jumped in front of a bullet in order to save Sherlock’s life. In the process, she lost her own. One of the plot lines of the remainder of the season was how this impacted John and Sherlock’s friendship. Part of the problem was that Sherlock, on the television series, often comes across to his friends as somewhat arrogant and condescending to his friends. Such actions on the part of Sherlock causes a serious strain upon the friendship between Sherlock and Watson in light of Watson’s loss. The death of Mary causes the two best friends to have a serious conversation half-way through the season. In that conversation, Sherlock says, “In saving my life she conferred a value on it. It is a currency I do not know how to spend.”
Despite his brilliance, Sherlock is dumbfounded by Mary’s sacrifice of her life for him. It was a very humbling experience for this proud man. It had a dramatic impact on him as he considered how such a sacrifice should impact that way he lived his life and treated others.
It is easy to see a parallel in the life of the Christian. When a person believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life, he receives that gift. It is a gift that can never be lost. It is a gift that can never be paid for. It is a gift of grace. And, we realize, in order for that gift to be given, Christ had to die for us all. His death paid for our sins, which points to the undeserving nature of that sacrifice.
The New Testament tells us that we as believers were bought by the price of that sacrifice (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18).
Can we not conclude that Christ’s death on our behalf places a value on our lives as believers? The value of that life includes the responsibility of living those lives in a way that pleases Him. Paul says that it means we should glorify God with our bodies (1 Cor 6:20). Peter says it should lead us to live our lives in reverent awe (fear) of God during our time in these physical bodies (1 Pet 1:17).
As believers, we are responsible how we spend the currency the Lord has graciously bestowed upon us by His death and our reception of eternal life by faith alone as a free gift. Paul tells us that one day the Lord will see how we spent it. He says that one day we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of how we did (2 Cor 5:10). May each of us spend that currency wisely.
