Wednesday, April 18, 2012

A Costly Handkerchief


I love this idea:

“A lady once showed Ruskin a costly handkerchief on which a blot of ink had been dropped. The handkerchief, she complained, was ruined; nothing was left but to throw it away. Ruskin said nothing, but took the handkerchief away with him. Shortly afterward the lady received it back, but so changed that she could hardly believe that it was the original. Using the blot as the basis, he had worked round it a beautiful and artistic design, changing what was valueless and ruined into a thing of beauty and of joy. So Christ takes the blotted lives and transforms them. He uses even the blots and makes them yield enduring lessons. Sins which defiled and seemingly left the life in ruins, he makes to yield a ministry of regeneration. It was the memory of the blots that drew from Paul his praises of thanksgiving and adoration to Christ” (Anonymous).

Isn’t this such an endearing thought, that Christ takes our mistakes, our done-on-purposes, the large and little blots that stain our souls, and weaves them into a life of love and devotion to Him and His? When I look back on my life and understand, as finally did Job, that my sins and motivations were/are so odious, yet Christ forgives them, and threads them into a new pattern. He takes my blots and changes them into a “thing of beauty and a joy forever.” Of course it would be better had the blots not been there, but oh! the gratitude I feel that they are forgiven, and that Christ strengthens me for a worthy service.

Thank You, wounded Christ!

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