An Unfinished Masterpiece

I am God’s masterpiece.

Yes, in my present state, I am.

You see, He knows my sin. He knows my weaknesses and mistakes. He sees the areas of my life that I still need to overcome, where I need to choose His will over my own.

But when He looks at me, He sees my potential, the design for me which He placed within the very depths of my being when He thought of me and planned me.

If you were creating a magnificent piece of pottery, as an artist, you have already visualized what it will look like, the colors, the material you want to use, the size and shape, and even the purpose it will serve. Will it hold flowers? Will it be a beautiful bowl for use in the kitchen? Or will it be so unique and intriquing that it will serve as a show-stopping focal piece in the courtyard of a grand hotel?

Now imagine, you see a flaw beginning to form in it, what would you do? Would you mash the clay back into a ball and begin all over again? Would you accept anything less that absolute perfection? Here’s a better question…How can you tell the difference between something that is factory manufactured, ‘cookie-cutter’ style, and something that was literally hand-crafted?

It is by it’s uniqueness! Yes, even by it’s imperfections! Those little flaws and variations are evidence that this particular piece is hand-crafted, a one-of-a-kind work of art. There is not another one like it anywhere in the artist’s workshop. Therefore, it’s value increases. In fact, sometimes the flawed piece is more desirable, because of it’s uniqueness.

I know that God already knew that I would be imperfect. Believe me, I know where all my flaws are! Don’t get me wrong, He loves me too much to leave me in my sinful state, and wants me to continually seek Him and submit those imperfections to His will. It is an on-going process.

But He sees my potential. He sees my value and says to me, “Come on, follow me, I know you can do this!”

My favorite chapter in the Bible is Psalm 139, because it is so personal, speaking to me, this flaw-filled human being.

“For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be. 
How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.”   Psalm 139:13-18

He “knit me together in my mothers womb“, and “all the days ordained for me were written in His book, before one of them came to be“. He saw my potential then, and He sees it now. He is not willing to give up on me!

 

Just like parents, who fall in love with their children, even before seeing their image on the ultrasound screen, believing in the potential that little life holds, and before that child is born, already loving them with every ounce of their hearts.

There is only one you and God truly does love you so.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

 

(Photo credit- publicdomainpictures.net)