How much is one human being worth? In terms of his financial profile, the prodigal was now worth zero. How much are you worth? I am not sure how to answer that question. If we could somehow break down the chemical composition of your body I could tell you your worth. You have within your body enough iron for a nail; enough sugar to fill a sugar bowl; enough fat for seven bars of soap (that may vary from person to person); enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop, enough phosphorous for 2,200 match heads, enough magnesium for a dose of magnesium; enough potassium to shoot a toy cannon, all mixed in with a little sulfur so that even in today's inflated market you are valued at about $7.50. That is how much we are worth.

What gave the prodigal his value is that he belonged to someone. He had a father. If I hear that there are 5,000 runaways every day in America that will not cause me to blink an eye. But if I hear that my child is one of them, there is nothing that I will not do to see that they are found. You are more valuable than an African diamond mind and an Arabian oil field. Why? Because you belong to our heavenly father. In the parable of the lost coin, we read where a woman turns her house upside down in search for a missing coin. Will God not literally turn the world upside down in his search for one lost soul?