[Steve Myers] Back in 1867, the Russian czar was having trouble financially. They decided to sell Alaska. And the United States stepped up and purchased Alaska for just over $7 million. That would be something like two cents an acre, which seemed like a phenomenal deal. But, it actually became known as "Seward's Folly." Seward was Secretary of State at the time. And they thought, "There is nothing there but a bunch of fur-bearing animals." But it turned out much differently, as soon as they saw the vast resources, when the salmon, the fish, the amazing blessings of the timber. And then of course gold was discovered there. And it was an amazing discovery and a tremendous value that initially was thought to be absolute folly.

Now when I consider this particular story about Alaska, sometimes people look at us, as God's people, as foolish. They think that we are absolutely foo-. In fact, I was watching a show the other day where the host said, "Anyone who is a Christian is absolutely ignorant." And oftentimes we get made fun of in this world, and they think of us as foolishness, much like what Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians.

He wrote about that very fact in 1 Corinthians 1:18. It says there, "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it's the power of God." And so oftentimes we're denounced. We're made fun of. We're criticized for trusting God, for having faith, in a faithless world. Don't let it get you down, because really, we're like Alaska in a Christian sense.

There is so much value and blessings in following God. The world doesn't see it. We can take heart. We can take courage. In fact, just a couple of verses later in verse 25, Paul wrote, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." So we can deflect criticism. We can say, "No, this is truth." We can fend off the attacks that come against us as true believers in God, because one day, one day God is going to make that evident.

So stand strong. Don't let it get you down. Recognize that we have the great God of the universe on our side. And God's acquisition is not folly. In fact, when you think about what God's done, we can take confidence. We can have security in knowing that God has made the ultimate purchase, you.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.