CELEBRATING GOD’S DESIGN

…I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

“God is proud of His workmanship – delighted with each and every one of us, for each of us is truly a “masterpiece” to Him. Several Sundays ago I heard a sermon illustration, a wonderful parable that really brought tis truth home to me.

It seems a famous artist was walking along the crowded streets of a large city far from his hometown. As he passed the open door of an art shop, he gazed in and there to his surprise saw a painting he had created years earlier. It was propped against the wall with several other old, dust-covered canvases. The color and detail he had once taken pride in were now covered with years of age and grime.

The artist walked into the studio and, without even asking the price, offered the art dealer a large sum of money to buy back his own work. Carefully carrying the damaged treasure under his arm, he hurried back to his hotel, planning in his mind all the way how he would restore it to its original beauty.

You can guess the analogy, can’t you? I am that damaged treasure, and so are you. Once created in all the brilliant colors of God’s love, we have been soiled by our own sin and selfishness. We have been made drab by our resistance to God’s unique and colourful plan for our lives. But our Father has paid the utmost price to buy us back and redeem us to His heart of love. We are that precious to Him.”