Silver for a Soul

My first day back at work went well! The Lord is so faithful. I had to take a pain pill and ice my knee when I got home but it's wasn't bad at all. I've been reading this devotional for my morning devotions. It's a book Molly gave me and one that she wrote several of the devotions for. I was really touched by the one I read today called Silver for a Soul. The scripture for it is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"You are not your own, you were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]."

One of the most poignant portrayals of God's grace can be seen in Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables. A kind priest takes in a recently released convict named Jean Valjean. In the middle of the night, Jean rewards the priest for his kindness by stealing all his fine silver flatware and disappearing into the darkness. Early the next morning, the thief is caught; and the authorities drag him back to the priest's home so that charges can be filed. It is here that we see grace exhibited in way that no one--not the police, and certainly not Jean Valjean--would have expected.

"Ah! here you are!" [the priest] exclaimed, looking at Jean Valjean. "I am glad to see you....I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest....Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?"

We are no different from Jean Valjean. We have all turned our backs on the goodness and love of God (Romans 3:23). But God did something that no one expected. "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 4:8 NRSV).

When we go before God, guilty and asking for mercy. He says, "I am glad to see you! Of course, I will forgive you. Now you will become My very own child, and I will send My spirit to live within you."

After Jean Valjean is released, the priest speaks one last word to him--the same word that our hearts hear from Jesus: "You no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you;...and I give it to God."

That was such an encouragement to me today. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in day to day living and worrying about my health that I forget the real purpose for my life...to glorify God and to shed His love into the world for others to see and desire. Thank you Molly for your words of wisdom...and thank you God for using Molly to glorify your name.