“Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
” What am I bidden, good folks?” he cried;
“Who will start bidding for me?
“A dollar, a dollar…now two, only two,,,
Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?”
“Three dollars, once…three dollars, twice…
Going for three”…but no----
From the room far back a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening up all the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as an angel sings.
The music ceased, and auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“Thousand dollars…and who’ll make it two?
“Two thousand…and who’ll make it three?
“Three thousand once, and three thousand twice,
“And going, going and gone,” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand….
“What changed it’ worth?” the man replied,
“The touch of the master’s hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and torn with sin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game--- and he travels on;
He’s going once, and going twice,
He’s going and almost gone.
But the Master comes, and foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the Touch of the Master’s Hand.
Myra Brooks Welch
Today, so many lives broken and scared by sin and appear to this world to have no value. They are rejected, judged, and thrown by the wayside. But Jesus came to seek people exactly like that; people like you and me. Jesus said, “They that are whole have no need for a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17 KJV).
Jesus, the Master, desires to take the broken, yielded pieces of our life and turn them into a masterpiece for His glory. His touch can calm the storms that rage in our hearts and give us divine peace. He gives hope with all seems hopeless. He can give strength when we are the weakest and provide all our needs when we are helpless.
Jesus will bring light into the darkness and lead us through the valley. The Master of the universe loves us UNCONDITIONALLY, and wants to take our lives, fine tune them, and use us to reveal His power and glory.
“But God hath chosen the foolish thins of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28 KJV).
The touch of the Master’s hand can make all things possible. (Matthew 19:26)