Bjcorbin's Blog

Years ago, the Lord showed me a picture of an oil painting, sitting on an old, chrome framed, yellow vinyl, kitchen chair.  The chair was sitting out on the lawn, with masking tape across one corner of the paintings frame.  As I pondered what the scene meant, I remembered hearing stories about people who’ve cleaned out attics and inadvertently sold valuable masterpieces, by artists like Rembrandt or Picasso; sometimes getting as little as five or ten dollars at a yard sale.  Obviously, the people, who found those old pictures, had no idea of their value; and as I continued to meditate on this, a deeper understanding began to emerge.

The most obvious meaning was that God considers each of His children to be a masterpiece, regardless of whether they’ve ever been treated like one.  Sadly, when you’ve been handled like old junk, it becomes easier to believe that’s what you are.  But in truth, the real value of a masterpiece is not diminished by the failure of its beholder to understand it’s worth.  It is the one who undervalues the artifact who ultimately suffers the loss.

Few would argue God’s credentials as a “Master” Creator; but just as it is with the Master Painters here on earth, some might want to quibble over His “greater” and “lesser” works.   Yet to the artist, each work is an expression of their inner being, each is valuable and irreplaceable.  One painting might get more attention than another, one may bring more profit, but each one is of equal value in reflecting the heart and vision of its creator.  Undoubtedly, if those who looked upon such a painting, with untrained eyes, had known the name of the artist, they may have had some greater sense of its worth.

Genuine art lovers can often pick up subtle details in a picture that an unskilled or maybe even an uncaring eye might miss.  They can often derive much more significance from a work than someone who only scans for the obvious; and so it is with us.  We may not always see the beauty in people, but how often have we really looked for it.  We may not always understand what the Creator was trying to convey to us, but simply knowing who created them should make these works valuable to us.  While this may be difficult with some people, it may be most difficult as we look in the mirror.  I sense that God’s heart is just as grieved when we don’t understand our own value to Him, as when we don’t see the value in others.

I believe that God wants us to be like the lovers of great art; to look deeply into His creation and to find Him in it.  The scripture says that the invisible qualities of God are found in the things He created and that we were created in His own image.  I sense that He is calling us to look past the obvious (love covers a multitude of sins) and to find the beauty He’s placed inside of each one of His children.  Once we find it, I believe that He would have us cultivate (i.e. to shine the light on and water) it.  Isn’t that what Jesus did?  He didn’t focus on the flaws or mistakes, He treated each one as precious and valuable.  We can see that people were transformed by that (e.g. the woman at the well, the woman taken from the bed of adultery, Zacchaeus…).  Jesus told the apostles that people would know His followers by the way that they loved each other.  Is that how people know us church folk?  How much of a difference would it make if we sought the beauty that God placed in each person and if we truly valued them as a unique creation, from the hands of a Master Artist.  If our hearts are going to align with His, we are going to have to become more passionate about those He created.