PLAY SUBLIMELY

I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.

Psalm 139:14

Antonio Stradivari was a seventeenth-century violin maker whose name in its Latin form, Stradivarius, has become synonymous with excellence. He once said that to make a violin less than his best would be to rob God, who could not make Antonio Stradivari’s violins without Antonio.

He was right. God could not make Stradivarius violins without Antonio Stradivari. Certain gifts were given to that craftsman that no other violin maker possessed.

In the same vein, there are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged. There are things that only you can do, and you are alive to do them. In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely.

The Applause of Heaven
[1]

Today's Scripture in Context

PRAISE REPORT & PRAYER REQUEST: The praise … we will be departing for Kids Across America Kamp around 3:00 a.m. tomorrow (Friday 6/1) morning. The prayer … there are some last minute wrinkles we are having to work through. God’s will be done as we handle these ‘opportunities’. The praise … around thirty-six (36) kids will have the experience of a lifetime at KAA. The prayer … Jesus Christ be glorified in this trip. Please pray for safe travel, good health, no injuries, protected home fronts and most of all, deepened relationships with Jesus Christ for all who make this trip.

NOTE: We return on 6/8. This will be the last Gospel Pearl until then.

[1]Lucado, Max; Gibbs, Terri A.: Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year. Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman, 2000, S. 172