Four years ago, when my mother was on her death-bed, and we siblings were going through the rest of her earthly possessions, I pulled this out of a drawer, and thought, "What in the world is this?"
I turned it around, turned it over...and froze. There was a name etched...or rather "gouged" into the surface of the underside. It read "BECKY MOORE". I had made it! I have no memory of doing so, but it was obviously either a school or VBS-type project, which I had given my mother as a gift, probably when I was about 6 years old.
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An incredible feeling settled over me. My mother had saved this "whatever", with its misshapen edges and uneven surface, for 54 years! She never got rid of it, even though it really wasn't a potter's prize! WHY? It's simple: because of who made it for her. THAT's what gave it such worth that she hung on to it until she died.
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Here's an awesome parallel, suggested by something Max Lucado wrote. In The Applause of Heaven, he tells of a sweater, now old and ragged, too small, that he can't throw away. It doesn't have a use anymore, but his mother made it for him. He says, "It is valuable not because of its function, but because of its maker."
Whenever we feel like the little clay thingy my mom kept - a bit misshapen and uneven! - let's remember that our basic, intrinsic value isn't based on what we can do. We are valuable "because of our Maker". We are a priceless treasure because of Who created us!
Remember what God told Paul, when asked to take away a problem that seemed to lessen his abilities? "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (II Corinthians 12:9)
We don't have to be perfect to be valuable. After all, "God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
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All of this is important, because God made us for a specific purpose:
""Even everyone who is called by my Name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made." (Isaiah 43:7)
"The people I formed for Myself, that they may proclaim my praise." (Isaiah 43:21)
We do not have to be "great" or strong (or anything else that reflects us) to fulfill that purpose! Even the weak, the "misshapen" and "uneven" among us can do what we were created to do!
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And we were created twice!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new." (II Corinthians 5:17)
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"I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
(Psalm 139:14)
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