Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
"You are who you are because of the Master Artist who put you together." That is how Malcolm Smith closed each of his radio broadcasts. Thirty years later, the phrase is as fresh and meaningful as it was the day I first heard it delivered in his calming, yet authoritative British accent.
God paints our lives for his purposes. And he does so with a care and precision that, by comparison, make Michelangelo or Da Vinci look like kindergarten finger-painters. Yet in his incredible artistic sovereignty, he gives us freedom.
I cannot explain God's artistry any more than I could attempt to sculpt Michelangelo's "David" from play dough. (Sorry for the mixed art-medium metaphors throughout this post). God's design, his brush-strokes - our freedom, our belief and failures; they somehow come together to form the picture he has in mind.
We are not passive in the process. Nor are we in control. We are participants. And we are the canvas (or the block of stone). Brush strokes and chisel points are often uncomfortable. But they are purposeful.
The more hammer blows that fall upon the chisel, the more we resemble the picture of Christ. Sometimes large chunks of unnecessary weight fall away with one blow. It is freeing. More often, the process is incremental. And the scarring from the chisel point reminds us of the wounds that bought us freedom.
God takes ordinary blocks of stone (maybe clay is more biblical) and carves master works. That is what he wants to do in your life and mine. And though we may not be completely aware, he is at work. Now. Today.
"We are who we are, because of the Master Artist who put us together."
God, paint my life for your purposes…
For now... D
