But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8
I can't tell you how many times I've let golden opportunities pass me by.
That's why I've remembered for years the true story about a big lump of something, a stone supposedly, which lay for centuries in a shallow brook in North Carolina.
The few people who saw the lump, paid no attention and passed by. That's the way it was until a poor man saw the heavy lump and thought it would be a good thing to hold his door open. He picked it up and took it home.
It was only when a geologist happened to pass by and saw the lump by the poor man's door that the lump was transformed. The guest's expert eye identified the "lump" as a chunk of gold - the biggest lump of gold ever found east of the Rockies.
Tiffany's judged the lump was worth over $100,000.
Today, I don't wish to talk to you about your missed chances. That's too easy.
Instead, I would like to ask if you have ever thought of yourself as being a valueless lump; a lump passed by and ignored by almost everyone.
Do you think of yourself as a lump, which is useful only to be someone else's doorstop?
If so, you should know that God doesn't think of you that way at all. The Lord saw the value of you and your soul and sent His Son into this world to save you. You were valuable enough for Jesus to spend His entire life saving you.
As Isaiah said, we may appear to be a lump, but in the hand of the expert Potter, we can be transformed into something of great value.
Which is just the Lord's way of letting you know: you are, in Jesus, made valuable, most valuable, indeed.
From a devotion originally written for "By the Way"
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for sending Your Son to save me. I find comfort, as well as salvation in the knowledge that I am valuable to You. Now I ask that You will empower me to live my life in thanksgiving and praise. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 59-61 Romans 11:19-36
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