Alive! by Pastor Jim Wilson

A 90-year-old Frenchwoman, who was preparing to move, had an auctioneer come to set a value on her furniture for sale. Hanging in the kitchen was a tempera panel that she had owned for decades. She believed it was an old Russian icon of little value and was planning to throw it away. The auctioneer thought it might be worth something. He was right. It was a 13th century painting, Christ Mocked by Italian artist Cimabue, a forefather of the Italian Renaissance. At auction it sold for $26.8 million—the most ever paid for a medieval painting. The kitchen painting resembles the lives of many of the people we meet each day. When they look at themselves, they see an old, useless person of little value to anyone. One of our most persistent messages is that our value comes not in what we accomplish, but because of the master artist-designer behind our existence. You are God’s masterpiece. He is forming you into a work of art that pleases him and accomplishes his purposes. Don’t let others minimize you and don’t put yourself down. You are a trophy of God’s grace on a mission to do his will.