A Costly Handkerchief

I'm reposting this because I really love this idea of Christ taking our mistakes and weaving them into a useful and noble life.

“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!