The Sibylline Books

The Sibylline Books were a set of prophecies in ancient Rome. According to legend an old woman who was also a sibyl (a kind of seer or progetess) offered to the last king of Rome a set of nine books that she promised would be of immense worth to the future of his king. She demanded an insanely high price for these prophecies and the king refused to pay the price. The woman burned three of the nine books and then offered the remaining books to him for the same price as before. Again the king refused. She burned three more and offered the last three, again for the same price. At this point the king and his advisors were very worried and decided to go ahead and pay the price for the last three books. The Romans continued to study and consult these books all through the rise and fall of first the Roman Republic and then later the Roman Empire. We may sometimes feel that we have burned up too many of our opportunities and chances in life. We may come to the conclusion that because of our mistakes we have devalued ourselves and that we are no longer worth saving. But just as the king of Rome was willing to pay the same high price for a mere fraction of the Sibylline Books, our Savior Jesus Christ is willing to pay the same high price for us even if we've burnt all of the books and only a single scrap of a single charred page remains. Each of our souls is of infinite worth to our Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ. You can subject numbers all day from infinity and you still have infinity left at the end of the day. It is never too late to come back to our Heavenly Father. Whether we came to him at the beginning of the day or waited until the Eleventh hour, whether we returned with the full nine books, or have just one left, Christ will pay the same price for us and rejoice with the same amount of joy to see us returned safely home.