Recovering A Masterpiece

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7

In the early 1990s, the international art community witnessed a dramatic shake-up. A famous early-seventeenth-century Caravaggio painting, lost for two hundred years, was rediscovered. Titled The Taking of Christ, this painting had disappeared in the late eighteenth century. Through a series of exciting events—triggered by a random discovery by two graduate students in Rome and ending with an art scholar’s visit to a Jesuit priest’s residence in Dublin, Ireland—the painting was recovered.

For many years, The Taking of Christ had been wrongly identified as a replica painted by another artist. So it had been devalued and casually passed through several owners. When it was found, the question of its authenticity remained, but as experts painstakingly removed layers of dirt and discolored varnish, the high technical quality of the painting was revealed. The Taking of Christ truly is a priceless treasure.

Similarly, you are God’s masterpiece. You are extremely precious to Him. Even though you might feel like used goods, damaged by sin, abuse, or your own poor choices, and discarded by someone who did not recognize your true value. No matter how many layers of the world’s dirt, grime, and pain cover you, God will restore you to your original and priceless value. He will make you a masterpiece, whiter than snow.

Lord God, may I yield to Your restorative touch. I long to walk in confidence that You consider me a priceless masterpiece.