"The Mark of Authenticity"
Last year, a worker at a Goodwill store was going through a stack of pots, pans, and other discards which had been left at the drop-off box. In the mix was an old painting that caught their attention. Besides being an original, there was something about it which demanded further investigate. It turned out to be a rare 20th century painting by Edouard-Leon Cortes, a French impressionist, and was subsequently sold at a Sotheby's auction for $40,600!
Stories like that are not unusual, but they always seem to happen to other people. For the rest of us, rare coins, objects of art and the like are just kept in circulation or taken to the Goodwill box! Wouldn’t it be helpful if valuable things were all labeled conspicuously with a mark of authenticity!
Life is like that. Things are not always what they seem, and people are not always as they appear. There are those who boast great relationships with the Lord only to be exposed as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Others seem to live mediocre lives but after their deaths leave behind legacies of things done in secret that evidence a spiritual walk which puts the rest of us to shame! They are life’s discards who turn out to be God’s masterpieces! Somewhere in the great expanse of heaven, there is a treasure who was once a neglected widow. On earth, she was overlooked and neglected; but, her sacrifice did not escape the Master’s eye, and today she is listed in God’s hall of faith!
This Sunday as we near the end of a study on 1 Peter, the Apostle again talks about suffering for Jesus. This time, however, it is in the context of God doing a work in us and through us that is bringing Him glory and ensuring for us unspeakable joy and eternal celebration! It is meant to inspire us to exhibit life’s most notable mark of authentic Christianity, enduring to the end!
Stories like that are not unusual, but they always seem to happen to other people. For the rest of us, rare coins, objects of art and the like are just kept in circulation or taken to the Goodwill box! Wouldn’t it be helpful if valuable things were all labeled conspicuously with a mark of authenticity!
Life is like that. Things are not always what they seem, and people are not always as they appear. There are those who boast great relationships with the Lord only to be exposed as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Others seem to live mediocre lives but after their deaths leave behind legacies of things done in secret that evidence a spiritual walk which puts the rest of us to shame! They are life’s discards who turn out to be God’s masterpieces! Somewhere in the great expanse of heaven, there is a treasure who was once a neglected widow. On earth, she was overlooked and neglected; but, her sacrifice did not escape the Master’s eye, and today she is listed in God’s hall of faith!
This Sunday as we near the end of a study on 1 Peter, the Apostle again talks about suffering for Jesus. This time, however, it is in the context of God doing a work in us and through us that is bringing Him glory and ensuring for us unspeakable joy and eternal celebration! It is meant to inspire us to exhibit life’s most notable mark of authentic Christianity, enduring to the end!
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