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Yesterday, our family visited a piano factory and showroom as we began our search for a newer piano for our home. The beauty, the music, the craftsmanship - they were all breathtaking. The greatest lesson we came away with, though, had to do with the craftsmanship in making the pianos, and even the talent in playing any of the pianos in the showroom. We learned what really matters.
It’s not the tool in the hand that matters;
it’s whose hand the tool is in that makes the difference.
If you take three different pianos, each a different make and of a different value, and let a person who has never taken lessons play the pianos, you’re likely to not hear much of a difference, except maybe in the tone of the sound.
Take those same three pianos and let a trained pianist play them. You’ll be amazed at the music that they can pull out of the instruments. The same instruments which seemed of very little worth when played poorly, or which seemed to have very little distinction from one another, are now making masterpieces because they are in the right hands.
Apply that same principle to the Bible. We probably all own a Bible, maybe several Bibles. Chances are, we read our Bibles with some regularity, right? We probably have our favorite verses and passages underlined or highlighted.
But if our Bibles were to play the tune of our life, would it be a simple, maybe-melodic tune, or would it be a moving, beautiful masterpiece, as played by a world-class musician?
Where does your Bible live? Mine seems to get moved around as I read it in one room, and then another. But I’ll be honest - a lot of Sunday mornings, I’m trying to remember where I left it as I race to get ready for church in time. What does that tell you? That consistency isn’t always my strength.
Take that same Bible - the one I can’t always find - and give it to a Christian who is longing for their very own Bible.
The Bible takes on a completely different worth in that person’s hands. It’s a gift, a treasure, a masterpiece. Chances are, the person holding the Bible will devour our favorite passages. They will read it for all it’s worth, where I’m likely to try to read a few words. They know what really matters.
In our Bibles, we have a precious tool - one that gives us hope, one that details how we can live life to the fullest, a tool that can beautifully shape our lives.
But we’ve become comfortable - maybe even complacent - in our lives.
We have the most valuable tool for living life, but we hold it with hands that live in comfort and complacency.
Friends, God is calling us out of our comfort zone. We have been given God’s Word, and when used properly, it can make our lives a beautiful instrument for God’s use.
What if we decided that we would treat our Bibles as the treasure and precious gift that they are? What if we vowed to know where our Bibles are, at all times. What if they started to fall apart from frequent use?
By God’s grace, our life song would be a masterpiece that captures the attention of those around us, and points them to Jesus!
Friends, we have a powerful tool in our hands. We live in an area with such easy access to God’s Word. Many Christians around the world do not have that same access. They would love the Bible in their hands, even in their own language. We are blessed, we are so very blessed.
Let’s treat our Bibles as the powerful, valuable tools that they are. Let’s read and use our Bibles in such a way that honors those who cannot easily access a Bible. Let’s treat this tool that can help to create a masterpiece of our lives, with the reverence and respect it deserves, as God uses this tool to create beautiful masterpieces for His glory!
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I would love to get a new piano. I’ve played since I was a little girl, and have had this piano almost 40 years. I’m not crazy about its tone and timbre but I love the cabinet. It makes me think about carrying our Bibles around for how they look, but never opening them to truly appreciate the masterpiece that’s inside. Beautiful post Rebekah. Praying to allow myself to be used as a masterpiece.
Deb recently posted…The Importance of Truth
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Rebekah Reply:
February 24th, 2014 at 11:54 am
The ones we’re looking at are used, although still newer than the one we have that has got to be nearly 30 years, if not more. All 3 of our kids take lessons and our oldest is aspiring to attend one of the best music colleges in the country, so we need a newer piano as a tool for him to be able to learn better and master the mechanics involved in playing.
I love the thought you’ve shared about carrying our Bibles around - I love the look of a brand new Bible, but really, it’s the well-worn, tattered Bibles that are truly making a difference…because they’re being used! Thanks, Deb!!
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Powerful! Lot’s of great quotables in this post
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Rebekah Reply:
February 25th, 2014 at 10:56 pm
Thank you so much! God teaches me so many beautiful lessons in some very special ways - I love that this post came out of a precious day with my family! Blessings, dear friend!!
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I loved this post. We don’t spend enough time with the word. I write Whispered Words of Wisdom captured from a yield heart. This is why I write
The voice of God is distinct
The voice of God is true
It is perfect.
God’s Word lays open bare
A quiet heart
A receptive mind
A pad
A pencil
I speak - God speaks
God speaks – I write.
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Rebekah Reply:
April 7th, 2014 at 10:00 pm
Thank you so much, Chris! I love the words you have shared here, too. Yes, “God speaks, I write.” Thank you for your kind words!
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This is lovely, Rebekah! You have a beautiful way with words. It reminds me of a poem. “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.” God is the perfect Master and plays His submissive people with perfection. None can say rightly…why have you made me so.
The Touch of the Master’s Hand
‘Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.
“What am I bid, good people”, he cried,
“Who starts the bidding for me?”
“One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?”
“Two dollars, who makes it three?”
“Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,”
But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said “What now am I bid for this old violin?”
As he held it aloft with its’ bow.
“One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?”
“Two thousand, Who makes it three?”
“Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone”, said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
“We just don’t understand.”
“What changed its’ worth?”
Swift came the reply.
“The Touch of the Masters Hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters’ Hand.
Myra Brooks Welch
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Rebekah Reply:
April 25th, 2014 at 7:34 am
I have always loved that poem, Tamara! Thank you so much for your kind words! Have a wonderful weekend!
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Love this post, Rebakah. Truly inspirational. God bless you.
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