May 3 - Gratitude!

Diane says:
Gratitude! Do you thank God every day that you are redeemed from the pits of hell? You should! And Paul did. He knew that on the list of sinners, his name would have been predominant. He also knew that it was through the Lord's abundant love and grace that he was shown mercy.

Numbers 15:27-31 tells us that there are two types of sin, that done in ignorance and sin that is done defiantly. You could atone for a sin done in ignorance, but not one that is done in defiance. Is it any wonder that the evil kings of Israel and Judah brought such trouble to their people? They defied God by encouraging worship of local gods. But, Paul lived his life in ignorance of Jesus Christ's personhood. He followed Jewish law to the letter, but when his life was transformed by Jesus, he realized that there was more to a relationship with God than following the law. Paul wanted nothing more than to be an example for others of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:17 is another praise song that I grew up with. I wish I would have identified the book and verse as I learned that song, but right now I can't get the tune out of my head ... so I might have to just enjoy the memory! He deserves our honor and glory forever and ever!

Rebecca says:
Do I thank God every day? That question took me aback because I realized that I don't do that. I don't look back, but when I read Diane's first sentence, I had to stop and think about who I was before the grace of God turned me around.

I've always been a bit of a dumpster-diver. As a single mom with little cash flow, I still had secret dreams of being an interior designer. People throw out amazing things. The first piece that hooked me was just after I moved to Florida. I was living with my sister and looking for my very first apartment. Our neighbors put a large pile of trash on their curb and in the midst of it was an end table. It was completely ruined, chunks were missing off the top, the glass inset was broken and one of the legs had snapped, but I dug it out and took it home because the brace between the two legs was a beautiful carving, and I couldn't let it go to the dump.

My sister thought I was a nut, and anyone that saw it laughed at me. I hacked away at the legs to release that carving and threw the rest out. I took the carving to the machine shop where I worked and after they sanded away the ragged edges, I painted it and hung it above the door in my first apartment like a cornice.

That gorgeous cornice reminds me of Paul's transformation. Paul was the worst of the worst. He was as much of a wreck as that table in the trash pile. But God knows the end from the beginning. Before time began, He had a plan for Saul, and saw the Paul in him all along. He had created one salvageable piece, unnoticed by all but nurtured and sustained by God. At just the right time it was set free and used.

Diane mentioned that Paul was a man who lived his life to the letter of Jewish law. He was a putz of a human and completely clueless to the Lord, but he lived religiously according to custom, tradition, and scripture. That was his little wooden carving, the piece God salvaged. It is that root of loyalty, dedication, focus and commitment that created the groundwork for him to become the apostle of God. I love that! All along while Paul was being such an ignorant jerk, God was smiling because He knew that wooden carving existed and what it would someday be.

I hung that cornice above the door in my home and every visitor commented or asked about it. Few believed what it once was, yet that simple little carving changed how they looked at things, and helped them to see treasures where before they had only seen trash.

I am challenged today to think about my own wood carving - those places in me that God salvaged, refined and refinished and now has made useful and fit for service. We all have them, places where he "displayed his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life" (1 Timothy 1:16).

When I think about the absolute mess I was, the horrible fruit that sprang from my branches and the twisted and tangled deception that I lived in, I am in awe of God. who managed to find that little wooden carving in me. I am grateful every day for His love, grace, patience, and strength, that transforms us from discarded pieces of what might have been, into intricate carvings from His hand, made fit for service.

“Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17)